I think I'm a Clone Now
by Agent-G
Summary: Naruto and Sakura wake up in the hospital not sure how they got there, the last thing they remembered was the chunin exams. But are they really who they think they are? And if they aren't who they think they are, then who are they?
1. Awakenings

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or make a profit from this.**

**Just a reminder that I don't have the best grammar or spelling sometimes because I've struggled with that all my life, I do my best with it but there will be mistakes now and again. So please keep that in mind and if you point them out it's nothing new to me.**

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 1: Awakenings**

In a dark dusty old room all was silent with the exception of small sounds of liquids, small creatures moving around in the dark as the place had been abandoned for a long time. The generators having fallen silent years ago as the still air hadn't been disturbed since that day. The dark room held long forgotten secrets and it was on this day that they were discovered again. Slowly the sounds of footsteps could be heard approaching the large secure door.

Muffled voices could hear heard as the door was slowly forced open, the door bulged inward until finally the old metal hinges finally gave out as the door broke open. Dust was cast up as the four figures started coughing from it all.

"How long has this place been here?" One of the men asked as he moved a small lantern around. The light showed the sight of a Konoha ANBU with raven mask on his face.

"It's been a long time, hell I forgot this place even existed," An annoyed female spoke up as she waved the dust out of her face. She was the only non-ANBU member of the group so far as she looked around. "It's only from looking over old reports from the old facility I used to oversee that this place was even mentioned."

"You mean back when you worked for _him_," The only other female spoke up with a slight acid to her voice as she refereed to that man.

The other woman turned looking annoyed at the older masked woman. "Hey a lot of people worked for him that you didn't know. Besides I left as soon as I could and I've been proving myself useful ever since I got accepted into the village. I've been helping you all find all of these places before someone else finds them."

She walked forward with her own lantern looking around. "There were all kinds of plans and experiments in the works that only two people knew about them all. Hell there's no telling how many we will actually miss. So it's best to find as many as we can."

"She's right," The final male member with a bear mask spoke up. "She's been helping us dismantled all of these bases and labs plus she's helped out. I think she's earned her right besides she was vouched for by the Hokage after she was checked out."

"I swear to god I never want someone in my head ever again," The woman muttered as she looked around. Having a Yamanaka walking through her head to check her loyalty hadn't been exactly the most pleasant experience in her young life but it could have been much worst. Looking around the place she could tell that it was old, older than a few of the other places that they had hit.

There was a lot of medical equipment here lying around. She could see tanks used for some purpose with cables running all over the place. Her mind raced as she tried to piece together what she was seeing. There didn't seem to be any notes just out in the open which might be a bad thing as she noticed a rat walk by. If they were left out they would have been shredded by those vermin for a nest long ago.

She saw chemical containers, their labels faded with age so it was hard to say what they had here. They would have to have a medical team come in for a proper cleanup and analysis later. First they had to move in deeper. The air was so stale and full of dusk that they coughed as they moved through the old facility. It was deep underground like most of the others but this place was very close to Konoha a little too close for comfort.

"Look for locked cabinets or a safe or something," She spoke out coughing slightly. "I still have no clue what this place it used for."

"I thought you said that there were reports on this place?" Raven asked her as he looked in a few drawers but only found equipment.

"They were references as well as items to be sent here," She said annoyed. "There was no mention of what the place was, you honestly think he would just label in all the reports, secret base for unethical experiments listed on them? I thought not."

"Hey there's a door back here." The other ANBU called out to the group.

They all looked to see secure double doors that seemed to be unlocked, they checked for traps just in case. Given who built this place it wasn't hard to see why there might be traps left around. Thankfully since this place was likely only known to one person, the secure door they broke through was the only real locked barrier they had to go through. When they opened the door and lit the area they saw a huge room filled with even more equipment.

"Wow, I thought the last room was something," Bear spoke up looking around. There was a lot of equipment that he couldn't even guess at what it was used for. Maybe when the recovery team showed up they could make some heads or tails out of this whole place.

"Oh god!" They heard the female ANBU cry out as they all looked. They all were shocked to see rows of tanks with deformed creatures in them. Looking at them all they seemed to be in some kind of order. They got less and less grotesque as they walked through the area. They were halfway through the rows of tanks before they noticed them starting to look more and more human. "What in the name of god was being done here?"

"I don't think god had anything to do with this," Bear whispered out feeling sick at the sight of it all. There were male and female 'people' in these tanks or they were or might have been. He wasn't sure if these were people experimented on or some other type of experiment. He paused for a moment, a few of the faces that he could make out seemed somewhat familiar but they were so deformed he couldn't be sure.

"Anyone else getting a sense of déjà vu?" Bear asked.

They all paused and looked around they were all feeling a strange sense of familiarity from the tanks as they moved forward. It wasn't until they got to the end of the room when they paused. There at the end seemed to be the machine that the whole place was about. It was huge two tanks that looked to be linked. There between them there was a tube connecting both of them as well as something that looked like there should have been a device or something inserted into the center as well but there was just a missing gap at the moment.

Looking closer they could see two figures, one in each tube floating there as they looked closer.

"Aren't they..." The female ANBU trailed off as she saw the two figures.

"They do look like them," Bear agreed, "But not really, are they even alive?"

The woman that led them to this place looked at the tanks and narrowed her eyes as she looked at the fluids. She also noticed several paper seals around the tanks that she couldn't even guess at what they were for. They were way above her level of understanding as she tapped the thick glass. It was then that she noticed one of the figures twitch ever so slightly at the sound.

She screamed out as she jumped back, "I think I saw one move!"

"What! You mean they're alive, how is that even possible?"

"I don't know!" The woman looked again and she closed her eyes as she pressed her palm against the glass. "I can feel chakra in them, they're alive in fact the entire tank feels alive and full of chakra. Whatever they're floating in, it's been keeping them alive but I don't know for how much longer. We're lucky we found them before whatever is in this tank ran out of juice."

"Wait you want to break them out?" Raven asked her. "We don't know what we're dealing with here."

"We can't leave them like that," the woman said.

"I think we should report this in, right now," Bear spoke up. "The Hokage needs to know about this and we need a recovery team and a medical team here. What if we take them out the wrong way and they end up dying?"

Raven thought about it for a moment, "Okay, Bear get a message back to Konoha, we need to get this done quickly."

**-Konoha-**

Naruto wasn't sure what happened as she slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times as his eyes hurt slightly from the brightness of the room. After a moment he looked around, it was a white room that reminded him of the hospital.

"Huh? How did I get here?" He muttered as he sat up feeling sore all over. "What happened?" He rubbed his head and noticed the windows had thick curtains drawn over them. He couldn't see out of them which was a little odd because usually the windows were supposed to be open to let in light he figured. In the end he just shrugged it off. Looking around he saw what looked like a hospital room but not one he knew, then again it wasn't like he knew every room.

He noticed he was in hospital pyjamas a top and bottom.

He also noticed he wasn't the only one here there in the bed next to him was Sakura in the same kind of clothing as his own. He moved off the bed feeling like he had been on the bed for a long time as he walked over to her shaking her. "Hey Sakura-chan, wake up, wake up."

Sakura groaned as she blinked and placed a hand over her eyes. "What?" She snapped at him. "What's going on?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Naruto told her. "I don't remember getting to the hospital do you?"

"Hospital?" Sakura looked around and noticed where they were. She groaned feeling her stiff body as she pulled back her long hair. "Why are we here, last thing I remember was...the chunin exams?"

"Hey yeah, I remember some kind of huge snake and some freaky guy." Naruto frowned. "We didn't lose did we?"

Sakura slumped, had they lost and somehow were put into the hospital? Looking around she noticed they were the only ones. "Hey, where is Sasuke-kun? Last thing I remember was that you two were out cold and...then it gets kind of hazy."

Naruto looked and didn't see Sasuke anywhere, "Maybe he wasn't hurt or is in another room?"

"Maybe," She got off the bed and nearly fell her legs were really worn out it seemed. Just how long had they been out? Her parents might be worried sick about her if she had been in the hospital for a long time she knew they had been a little nervous about her becoming a ninja after all. "I wonder if Kakashi-sensei will show up and tell us what happened."

"Well let's find out," Naruto went over to the door and opened it only to see an ANBU standing there. "Uh...hi?"

The man seemed surprised but cleared his throat, "Sorry but you two are to wait for the doctors to take a look at you."

"Why?" Naruto demanded. "What happened to us?"

"Sorry kid but I'm not at liberty to say. Please wait inside for the doctor to check you out."

Naruto frowned this was kind of strange as why would an ANBU be here? For a moment he thought that he might be in trouble and was quickly thinking how to get out of here before Iruka showed up to chew him out when he realized that he hadn't done anything wrong, at least not lately.

"Well can you at least tell me how long we've been here?" Naruto asked. "What about the chunin exams, are they over?"

There was a pause as though the man was trying to figure out what the boy was talking about. "Sorry but I can't answer that."

"What! Why not it's a simple question!" Naruto shouted out but felt Sakura's hand on the back of his shirt pulling him back.

"Sorry, we'll wait for the doctor," Sakura closed the door and then glared at Naruto. "Don't you know any better than to start trouble with an ANBU?"

Naruto pouted as he placed his arms behind his head looking away, "I just wanted some answers, you'd think he could at least answer that."

Sakura sighed, "I want answers to let's just wait for the doctor to show up and we can ask then okay?"

Both young teens went to waiting Naruto didn't like to wait as he looked around. He tried to open the curtains but found that they were actually secured to the wall. There was no way to see out of them which was really strange. He said as much to Sakura who frowned at it but figured there had to be a reason for it. Sakura decided to wait on the bed while Naruto started pacing it took a few minutes for that to get on Sakura's nerve as she told him to wait on the bed and stop being annoying.

Thankfully the door opened as a nurse and doctor walked in as they started looking them over. They did the usual check up things and then they started to draw out blood.

"Do you have to do that?" Naruto asked he hated needles as the nurse smiled at him. That caught him a little off guard as the smile was warm and there wasn't anything hidden behind it.

"Don't worry I'm good at this and it will be over in a moment," the nurse told him as she started to draw blood, Naruto flinched as she looked away.

"Naruto it's just a needle," Sakura started to say before wincing at the needle going into her arm.

"I thought you said it was just a needle Sakura-chan," Naruto grinned at her earning a irritated look from the pink haired girl.

"So I want to check a few things," the doctor said as he started writing down results. "Do you know where you are and who you are?"

"Konoha hospital?" Sakura asked looking around the room. "And I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Yeah and I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Okay," he made a few notes, "What else do you remember?"

"We're on Team 7 and we were taking the chunin exams," Sakura told the doctor wondering why he was checking their memory. Had they gotten some kind of head trauma that he was checking on? She didn't feel any kind of injury on her head but then what if they had been in comas until now? That might explain a few thing like how tired her body felt if she had been in this bed for a long time.

But it didn't explain why Naruto woke up and then was the odds of two coma patients suddenly waking up in the same day didn't make much sense. The doctor kept asking strange questions like that and they kept answering as best as they could before Naruto had to start asking his own.

"Hey how about you start answering a few things yourself," the boy asked. "Is the chunin exam over? What happened to us and how come we're in here and how long? Where is Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei?"

The doctor and nurse exchanged looks before the doctor spoke up. "Well yes they are over."

"Aw man we lost didn't we?" Naruto's shoulders slumped he had been looking forward to making chunin.

"And you were...injured," The doctor continue on. "You've been here awhile, as for your sensei I can get word to him to visit you as soon as he can. Just please rest and relax for the moment as you're still recovering."

"Were we seriously injured?" Sakura asked as the doctor wasn't really telling them that much.

"Well we just want to be sure you two are okay after all," the doctor got up to leave as the nurse followed him out the door.

The two genins were wondering what was going on at the moment.

"This is weird," Naruto got off the bed and was looking at the secured curtains.

Sakura had to admit that this was all very strange, nothing made much sense to her as there was just too much information they were missing. Then she heard the tearing sound and noticed that Naruto was pulling the curtains off the wall.

"What are you doing?"

"Something fishy so I'm going out to check it out," Naruto commented as he pulled enough of the curtain to get at the window. He easily opened it, apparently someone forgot to lock the windows, which was a good thing the hospital kept doing that. It made escaping from these rooms so much easier that way.

"Naruto we're supposed to be resting like the doctor said," Sakura got off the bed and was ready to drag her idiot teammate back to the bed by force.

Naruto took one look out the window before he froze, "What the...hey this isn't Konoha!"

"What?" Sakura asked as Naruto pulled more of the curtain off and she looked out. There were forest in the distance and she could see the great wall that surrounded the village. She didn't see what the problem was at first but then she noticed something odd, she didn't recognize any of the buildings down there. The whole placed looked different, the layout, the types of buildings everything inside the wall was just different.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked her.

"I don't know." Sakura was both confused and starting to get a little scared now.

"You think we're kidnapped? Maybe by another village?" Naruto asked again.

"I...don't know," Sakura had never been to one of the other main villages but from what she remembered from pictures and descriptions this place didn't seem to fit one. Maybe they were in another city that wasn't in one of the five great elemental nations? At any rate something was really wrong here.

"I think we should look around," Naruto said getting onto the ledge of the window. "If we've been kidnapped we need to figure out where we are and how to get back."

She had to admit that it was their duty to escape. "Alright let's hurry before they come back."

Both of them walked down the side of the building quickly to try and avoid being seen. They hid behind some bushes as they looked around. It seemed like a normal average town, they could see ninja walk by in Konoha style dress. It was all confusing to them as they slowly made their way through the village. They kept to the side streets as they tried to listen in on conversations and figure things out.

But everything only added to the confusion, although the place wasn't Konoha it was built like it and it had the same 'feel' to it. Both Naruto and Sakura were wondering what had happened when they decided to try and risk going up higher to see how large the village was. They climbed the side of a building and on the roof they looked around. It was then that they spotted the one thing that only made things worse.

They couldn't have seen it before but now with a clear line of sight they would now see the mountain range that they knew very well. There the faces of the Hokages looked back at them nothing had been changed except for one thing, there was another face on that mountain. There was an unfamiliar woman's face as the fifth head on the mountain.

"That's impossible," Sakura muttered. She was sure that was the exact same mountain it couldn't be a reproduction and yet why was there a new face on it?

Naruto just looked at it silently with wide eyes as he tried to wrap his mind around what he was seeing.

"There they are!" A voice shouted out as they turned to see a chunin ninja on another rooftop looking for them.

"Crap they must have noticed we left!" Naruto looked around the place might be different but if there was one thing he knew it was how to give the run around to older ninja in a village. "Come on Sakura-chan, this place is weird and if we let them take us we might never figure things out!"

Sakura nodded her head, in an insane world Naruto was the only one she could trust as she was trying to make sense of this world. She ran with him keeping up as they tried their best to not be caught.

While the two of them were being chased, over in the center of the village inside of the new Hokage building things were peaceful. In the Hokage's office Tsunade was looking over reports, things had been calm for awhile and she was enjoying her day. Picking up her tea she took a sip at the latest candidates for the future chunin exams that would be in Kiri in several months time.

That was of course when her day would get so very complicated when a ninja ran into the room suddenly.

"Tsunade-sama! We have trouble," the ninja gasped out as he had run here as fast as he could when he heard the news.

"What is so important that made you rush in here?" Tsunade asked him this was peace time there shouldn't have been any kind of major threat going on at least she hoped there wasn't a new threat. The village had only just finally been fully repaired and she wasn't looking forward to being known at the Hokage that had to rebuild her village three times in her career.

He took a few breaths, "I'm sorry but the hospital just informed us, they woke up and they escaped from the hospital."

"What!" Tsunade stood up behind her desk eyes wide there were only two people that this ninja could be talking about. She knew that when they had been found this was going to give her a major headache. "Wasn't there supposed to be a guard on their room?"

"They apparently sneaked out of the room somehow," the ninja bowed his head in apology.

Tsunade sighed as she sat down in her chair this was going to cause all kinds of problems. "Send out everyone we can to find them before they run into the two they shouldn't. I haven't even told them about what we found yet and I don't want to hear to brat's reaction to all of this."

Among the village both Naruto and Sakura were very confused as they made their way through the unfamiliar village. Nothing made sense, the place looked nothing like their village but there was the Hokage Mountain all the faces were there but why was there a female face on it? None of the streets looked right but yet everything had a somewhat familiar feel to it, plus all these ninja wore Konoha uniforms.

Both young teens ran on over the roofs as they tried to lose the perusing ninja.

"Ha! I used to outrun jerks like you back when I was in the academy, you'll never catch me!" Naruto yelled back.

"Naruto, now is not the time to brag!" Sakura yelled at him as they kept moving. It was hard as she was already starting to feel winded, she felt out of shape and her body slightly sluggish for some reason. Naruto took her hand as he pulled her to the right. They jumped down into a side alley as they quickly made for a sharp turn and kept taking random turns to help shake off their pursuit.

They accidentally ended up in the middle of a busy street as they ran through the crowd trying to move around all the confused people. They were trying to think of a way to hide and think things out, to try and find information about where they were and what was going on. But suddenly there was an orange and black blur as someone landed in front of them.

"What's all the noise going on here?" the tall blonde boy asked looking at them. "What's all the commotion?"

Another person landed behind the two teens this one was a female by the voice they heard. "What are you two doing running around like this and why are you dressed like that?"

Both Naruto and Sakura looked at people and froze as did the two new people. There standing in front of them was what looked like an older version of Naruto in orange and black jumpsuit they could tell from how his hair and blue eyes were a perfect match. But it was also the black whisker marks on his face that really sold it to the young genins.

They looked behind them at the female and saw that it was what looked like an older version of Sakura, as she had the same features, green eyes and pink hair only much shorter now. The older Naruto and Sakura looked at the kids and saw that they were now looking at younger versions of themselves. There was a shocked moment of silence between the four of them as a crowd started to gather in the street at the bizarre sight of the four of them.

"What the hell!" All four of them yelled out suddenly as the shock started to wear off.

**Next up chapter 2: Explanations**

**This was an idea I had for awhile and I just wanted to get the first chapter out. Yes this will be a strange Naruto/Sakura story as this is a older Naruto/Sakura and younger Naruto/Sakura story lol. Basically you should have figured out what is going on by this point and they will be getting new names.**

**If only so it doesn't get so complicated by having two sets of people called Naruto and Sakura.**


	2. Explanations

**Just to let everyone know I'm thankful for all the reviews for the first chapter alone also I took the title for this story from the Weird Al song of the same name.**

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 2: Explanations**

It was quite a sight to see in Konoha that day, seeing two of the legendary ninjas of the last great ninja war looking shocked as they confronted two younger versions of themselves. As people gathered around to look at the strange sight there were whispers and talking going among the crowd.

"Who the hell are you!" The younger Naruto asked pointing at the older version.

"That's my question!" The older version yelled out pointing at his younger self. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki so who the hell are you?"

"No you're not, I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

"No I am!"

"No I am!"

Both Sakuras sweat dropped as the two started to devolve into a playground argument. The older Sakura sighed and palmed her face, now she had to deal with this in stereo. Looking at the young girl that looked so much like her was a bit surreal. She was sure what she was looking at wasn't a genjutsu and she didn't think it was a henge.

"I take it you'll have to same name as me then?" Sakura said gently to the young girl.

The young pink haired girl looked up and nodded as Sakura could see the fear and confusion in the young girl's eyes. It made Sakura remember how she had been as a young child, alone and bullied at times. This young girl was alone, scared and confused and yelling at her wouldn't help mattered. So she chose the kinder and gentler approach.

"I know that things are strange but we'll get to the bottom of this okay?" Sakura told her younger self. "I'm not sure what's going on but we'll find out together."

The young Sakura only nodded honestly she was scared out of her mind on what was going on. The entire world seemed to have changed overnight and she had no idea what was going on. Looking over at the two Narutos she had to admit that despite the age difference both were acting just as immature as she expected. It was just so surreal to watch them that she momentarily forgot that the world had gone insane on her.

"There they are!" A chunin shouted out as he and a few others landed with him. They made their way through the gathering of people only to stop at the sight of what was going on and who was here with their two targets.

"Crap," one whispered knowing that they had been told to try and prevent this from happening as the Hokage wanted to tell the two of them in person.

The older Sakura however noticed their looks as she felt something was going on as she turned to address them. "Will you tell me what is going on here and why there are younger versions of myself and Naruto running around?"

"Uh..." They all looked at each other not sure what to say to this woman who was one of the legendary Konoha Eleven that had made a name for itself in the last war and after. Not only that this was Sakura Haruno, apprentice to Tsunade and who had saved so many lives in the war that there were ninja from all nations that claimed to have been saved by her skills. And now she was glaring at them angrily for stalling something no one wanted given her strength was enough to put most men into the hospital from one hit if she chose to.

"We're sorry Sakura-san, but we were just ordered to bring them back," the leader of the group spoke up. "We're not sure what's going on."

"Did this come from the Hokage's office?" she asked and they nodded.

"Then let's go get some answers!" The older Naruto finally spoke up as he and his younger self had stopped arguing over who was the 'real' Naruto to hear this. "I want to know what's going on here."

"So do I!" his younger self proclaimed.

Sakura looked at them, to her younger self and then to the ninja, "You heard them, we're going to the tower so you better just let us get out of our way."

"Uh...but our orders..." one man tried to say but shut up from the angry look from Sakura. The men nodded their heads and quickly left the area to report back to Tsunade.

The young Sakura could only look up at this older self of her, she seemed to have a lot of authority in the village for some reason and there was this presence about her. Looking around she could see a lot of people were looking at Sakura with respect. It was odd for her, someone who was just a genin. For a moment she was wondering how this Sakura had gotten like this.

"Heh, you sure told them Sakura-chan," The older Naruto spoke up grinning.

Sakura sighed looking at her counterpart, "Come on Naruto we all need some explanations."

So the four of them walked through the village, of course it couldn't be helped that they would draw looks from everyone. It wasn't every day that you saw the sight in Konoha. The younger Naruto looked around and couldn't help but notice how everyone was different. It took a moment before he realized that the cold looks he normally got were nowhere to be seen. He couldn't remember a day walking down the streets and not have people glare at him, ignore him and treat him like he didn't exist.

It was just too strange, in fact people were pointing them out and there were some smiles. He felt a hand on his shoulder making the young teen jump to see that it was from the older him. He gave an assuring smile that let the young boy know that this Naruto knew what he was thinking and experiencing.

"Things have changed," he told the younger one. "I got everyone to recognize me. It wasn't easy but I'm actually kind of a hero now."

"Really?" The younger one had always wanted to be seen as a hero of the village someone important that they couldn't look away from and they had to respect. It was different than how he imagined it but to know that it was possible was somehow uplifting for him. He had no idea what was going on but so far this was the first thing that he felt good about.

"Is he serious?" The young Sakura was doubtful hearing that. She couldn't believe that if this older Naruto was like the one she knew that he could be anything like that.

"Of course he's serious," The older one spoke up in his defence. She was starting to remember how she had acted back then and how Naruto hadn't started to really shine. Back when things were simpler in life and before Team 7 was broken and they had to really grow up. She couldn't help but set this girl straight a little if only to somehow wished that someone had done the same for her back then.

"Naruto is the hero of the village now and is respected in not only this country but a lot of others. He's become a powerful ninja and I'm proud to be his teammate and his friend."

The young Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing or seeing, the way this version spoke up for Naruto was not something she could see herself doing. Looking back at the two she had to wonder just how much different this place was from her home and how in the world did Naruto of all people get like this.

"Well I bet Sasuke-kun is better right?"

It suddenly got very quiet in the group as no one spoke up. The two younger genins could feel that Sasuke wasn't a pleasant subject. Something was seriously wrong and both young teens looked at each other wondering what had happened.

"We'll talk about it another time," her older counterpart said simply without much emotion behind it. After that it was a very quiet walk to the tower.

When they got to the new tower they could tell that this was yet another change. The building looked much like the original only it was slightly larger and was build with a sturdier design. There was the huge seal of 'Fire' in front of the building that had been salvaged from the wreckage of the old building. It had been something of a symbol for the rebuilding of the village. The four got many looks as they marched up to the Hokage's office.

"Baa-chan! You got some explaining to do," Naruto yelled out as he thrust opened the door. The four walked into the Hokage's new office. It looked a lot like the original one only now it was slightly larger with another desk in the corner that Shizune used as she helped Tsunade with paperwork. There was also a shelf on the side of the wall where some paper work was placed.

Tsunade looked annoyed at Naruto, "What are you talking about..." then she noticed the two young versions walking in as well as the full understanding hit her. "Damn...well I knew this was coming."

"You knew about this Tsunade-sama?" Sakura couldn't believe that her mentor would keep this from them.

"I was going to tell you about them as soon as we finished finding out about them," Tsunade looked at the two young people in front of her. It was so eerie seeing them there, almost like she had stepped back in time to a simpler time before everything that had happened.

"Baa-chan I think we all need to know what's going on," the older Naruto spoke up seriously.

Tsunade sighed, "I just had Shizune go and get someone to help with this, she was the one that found them and has been researching what else we found."

"Will someone please tell me what's going on? Who are you anyway and where's the Old Man?" Young Naruto shouted out.

"I am Tsunade the Fifth Hokage," she explained. "I took over for Sarutobi-sensei after...he died." She knew that Naruto had been close to her old teacher and this young one seemed to be the perfect copy. From the report she just got from the hospital they seemed to have all the right memories so far.

"What!" The younger one couldn't believe that the Old Man was dead he couldn't believe it. "That's a lie! He's the Hokage there's no way the old man would just die!"

Tsunade had never been there when Sarutobi had died but she had known that Naruto had a special relationship with her old teacher. Apparently this young man had all the same memories and emotions from the Naruto of that time. A part of her couldn't help but feel for the boy, she knew the pain of loss better than most and she could see the pain in the boy's blue eyes.

"He was killed in an attack on the village by Orochimaru," she explained to him. "He died protecting the village just as any Hokage would die to protect those precious to them." It was odd for her explaining this as it was a young Naruto that had made her realize what it meant to be Hokage. In a way it was like life was coming back full circle at her.

Although the young boy didn't know the name he could see the seriousness, his fist balled up as things were just coming at him too fast. Everything was coming too fast and now the old man was dead? It seemed literally just like yesterday that he had been alive and well and now he just found out that the first man to really treat him well wasn't around anymore. He felt like the floor was giving out on him and he was spiralling down. The village changing he could take, seeing older versions of himself and Sakura was weird but he was dealing, but the fact that the Hokage was dead and gone and someone he didn't know had replaced him was enough to nearly push him too far.

"How...how long ago was it," the young Sakura looked around feeling just as confused. "The last thing we remembered was the Forest of Death."

Tsunade looked at the two older ninja in the room to see their surprised faces as she looked at the two younger. "That was over 3 years ago and the previous Hokage died at the end of the chunin exams." She could see that the two youngsters waned more but she held up her hand. "It's a long story and as you can see there is a lot you've both missed out on."

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune looked in from the open door as she walked in. "I brought her, oh my." She saw the two young teens in the room and it was like taking a trip back in time when they had all first met. They looked so much like how they had when she had first met Naruto and later Sakura when they had returned to the village. Sakura had once said she had longer hair and now she could see what the young girl had most likely looked like when she had first started out.

Everyone saw Shizune walk in to take her place by Tsunade's desk followed by an older teenager with red hair, partially flat on one side and partially spiky on the other with dark glasses.

"Tsunade-sama I haven't finished going over everything we found yet to give a full report so..." She trailed off seeing the two young faces. "Oh. So they're awake now."

"This is Karin, she joined the village after the war and has been helping us with finding and dismantling a lot of Orochimaru's old operations since we can't leave them just laying around for someone to find." Tsunade explained.

Karin walked forward carrying some papers with her, she gave a smile to the older Naruto in the room. "Hey there Naruto." She spoke in a tone that was a bit more of just a friendly greeting.

"Uh..hi." Naruto had never really known what to say to the girl. Ever since she had joined the village, he had been running into her. Although what he didn't know was that she had actively been 'running into him' on purpose. He never was good with girls with her type of personality and although he liked attention he wasn't sure how to deal with the kind of attention he got from her.

The younger Sakura noticed this however, since of course she had seen many girls try this on Sasuke back in the academy. This woman who looked to be the same age as the older counterparts, was interesting in Naruto of all people. That was bizarre to say the least for the young girl as she was still trying to wrap her mind that somehow this version of Naruto had become a major hero of some kind. And now he had at least this girl after him, it was also then she noticed that from her own older counterpart a chilling pressure.

Looking up she noticed a look on her older face that she must have given Ino plenty of times when she had been after Sasuke. That was something else that bothered her and that was that the Sasuke of this world would be older so any chance of finally getting with her long time crush were mostly gone. But strangely she was more worried about why his name seemed to kill any conversation. So just to recap for herself everyone seemed older, there was something going on with Sasuke and her older self looked annoyed that this girl was showing an interests in Naruto of people.

Was it that she just didn't like the girl or something else, the young Sakura prayed it was just that she didn't like the girl, she didn't think her mind could handle where her mind was starting to go. So instead she focused on what the red haired girl was talking about before she missed anything important.

"As you know I've been going with ANBU to certain locations," Karin addressed everyone. "A week ago we found a secret base that Orochimaru used for some personal experiments. We're not totally sure what the end result is, we're still going through some notes we uncovered at the scene as well. We're also looking through all the chemicals and other items to try and figure out what he was really up to."

"So what's this got to do with us," The young Naruto spoke up for the first time clearly losing his patience.

Karin sighed, "I was getting to that. In there we found many tanks full of failed experiments. He was experimenting with cloning."

"What like my shadow clones?" the young boy asked.

"More like permanent ones," Karin clarified. "We found so far many different clones made from various people. Even of few of yourself Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade perked up a bit at that, she hadn't heard of that and she didn't like it. She had a few guesses where he might have picked up on her DNA like that fight she had with him with Jiraiya was a perfect time to get some of her blood that might have been around or other such things.

"Wait you don't mean..." The younger Sakura couldn't finish the thought was too horrifying to finish out loud but she had a sinking feeling she knew where this was going.

"You two are clones," Karin told them. "You were the only ones that looked to be successful. It looked like he planned to make more based if you two were successful and use what he learned to make other clones of others. Again we don't know why but, look I'm not good with the gentle approach but I'm sorry but you two aren't who you think you are."

"But...but we have memories!" The young Sakura was starting to break out in tears. "I remember my first day at the academy and how scared I was. I remember crying in the park when I first met Ino, I remember when I was five and I scraped my knee and my dad carried me home all the way."

"Then he tried to take care of it but I was too afraid of the sting of the medicine he was trying to put on my knee," The older Sakura finished it had been a long time since she had thought of that memory.

"But...I remember..." The younger one's voice was cracking. If she wasn't Sakura Haruno then who was she? She had all these memories but this woman was telling her that they didn't belong to her. That she hadn't grown up with a family in this village that she, she had been nothing more than grown in some tank. She felt sick to her stomach she wanted to run to wake up from this nightmare. She wanted to be home again, back in her room, back when things made sense.

Tsunade could see the blow this was to the two youngsters, she couldn't even begin to think what they were thinking or going through. The only time she had truly felt lost in her life had been after Dan's death, nothing seemed the same after that and for years she had just wondered wasting her life away. Looking into the pained eyes made her remember that dark period of her life. No matter how they came into life, looking at them now all she could see where two young people who their whole life had been ripped away.

Physical damage she could heal but the mental and emotional damage had always been one of the toughest things to heal in her career.

"This can't be real," the young Naruto said softly and then looked up sharply. "Why should I believe anything you say? You say we're just clones, I remember things so does Sakura-chan!"

Tsunade knew that the Naruto clone would be the hardest to convince the boy was stubborn after all but there was one way to proof it to him. "Lift up your shirt."

"What!" The young clone staggered back what in the world was this woman asking him to do now?

"Lift up your shirt and run some chakra through your body, try for around the stomach to be sure." Tsunade explained. "You shouldn't have the seal on your stomach for the Nine Tails if you're who you said you are. If you do contain it, then the seal should show up."

"Nine Tails?" The Sakura cloned looked confused to her Naruto. What was this woman talking about? What did Naruto have to do with the Nine Tailed Fox that was destroyed all those years ago?

The young Naruto shifted slightly but he was so sure he was the real Naruto. He didn't like the way how his Sakura was starting to look at him, he had never told her what he had inside of himself. He glared at the woman in front of him she shouldn't have said that, he didn't want Sakura to treat him like everyone else that knew the secret about him treated him for the most part. But he was certain that he was the real Naruto, he couldn't accept that everything he had experienced were just memories of someone else.

He had lived that life he was sure of it. So if this would prove to everyone that he was who he thought he was then he would do it. He pulled up his shirt and ran the chakra not sure what to see. He couldn't remember seeing a seal on his stomach before but when he ran chakra through his body nothing showed up. He frowned as he tried more and more but nothing happened.

"Naruto?" Tsunade spoke up as the young clone looked up but she wasn't talking to him but the other Naruto.

The young clone looked to see the older one open his jacket and pulled up his black shirt. Then a second later a seal appeared on the stomach.

"That is the seal that the Fourth placed on Naruto as a baby," Tsunade explained to him feeling sorry for crushing his hope but the boy would have to learn to face reality sooner or later. "If that's not enough just remember how much has changed. Everything is different because years have passed since those chunin exams. I'm sorry but you have to face facts."

Both young clones looked to be in a state of shock as Tsunade looked to Shizune. "Please take them back to their room in the hospital. We still need to examine them to be sure they're okay after being in stasis for so long." They also had to check to make sure that Orochimaru didn't place anything weird in their bodies that could come back to bite them later. There was still no telling what he was doing with cloning different ninja and for what purpose.

"Of course," Shizune walked to the kids. "Please come with me." They left with her looking crushed and defeated as they were lost in their own small world as they tried to come to terms with everything that they had learned.

The remaining Sakura and Naruto looked at them sadly, seeing them it was hard not to feel something for them now. They hadn't chosen to be created but here they were, not only that looking at them it was hard not to think of how they would feel if they had woken up in their shoes. Their reactions made it even both more powerful and eerie.

"How could they have our memories like that?" Sakura asked her mentor. "I mean I barely remember that memory she talked about."

Tsunade sighed as she rubbed her head, "I'm not sure. Orochimaru always was one for pushing past the boundaries and going into territory that no one was meant to fool around in. There has been the theory of genetic memory but this is the first time I might have actually seen it." She looked to Karin who only shrugged.

"It's as good a theory as anything else and would explain their memories. I'm still going through the notes though so I can't give an answer. I won't know for certain what the place was meant to be until I'm finished."

"Then get to it," Tsunade said tiredly as Karin took the hint to get back to work. Tsunade then looked over at Naruto who was strangely quiet. "What are you thinking?"

"What's going to happen to them?" Naruto asked her.

"I honestly have no idea at this point." The Hokage had ideas but honestly until they were certain that the two clones posed no threat to themselves or others then the options were to stay at the hospital until something could be thought about.

Naruto grew quiet as he thought about how alone his clone must be feeling, it had been a few years but Naruto still remembered what it felt like, to be totally alone in the world, to have no one and nothing there for you and how dark it felt even in the brightest of days. Seeing his clone go through that was like looking into the past as it brought back all kind of painful memories for him.

Sakura looked at Naruto, she knew him well enough to know when something was bothering him. She too was bothered by the fact that she not only had a clone but how much the girl reminded her of her old self it was kind of scary. Plus seeing how the girl had been near tears brought back all kinds of mixed feelings. She too still remembered how it felt to be alone in the world at a young age with no friends.

Tsunade seeing them like this knew she didn't want them moping around the office, "You two can go now. I am sorry I kept this but I was planning on telling you both when we had a better understanding of what was going on."

Wordlessly the two left her office and Tsunade was very tempted to take her sake bottle out of the top drawer and get started early this afternoon.

"Well this has been one hell of a day," she muttered to herself. Two possibly psychologically damaged clones and now two of her precious people were now confused and might have to live with the fact that there were two younger versions of them around. With a curse she took out her bottle and a small cup, to hell with everything else after this she needed a good drink.

**Next up Chapter 3: Who am I?**


	3. Who Am I?

**Just to let everyone know I'm thankful for all the reviews for the first chapter alone also I took the title for this story from the Weird Al song of the same name.**

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 3: Who am I?**

**-Konoha Hospital-**

The young Naruto was staring up at the ceiling of the hospital room they were back in. The blinds had been removed since there was no reason for it anymore. He was also bored as there really wasn't a lot to do. Naruto, at least that's what he kept thinking of himself as given that he really didn't have any other name to call himself. Still it had been pretty silent the entire time they had been back, looking over to his left he could see Sakura still there.

She was sitting with her knees to her chest and resting her head on them. She hadn't said a word not that he could blame her. He really wasn't sure what to think himself after learning everything. He wasn't who he thought he was, all his memories were of something else, so what did that leave him? He wanted to say that the last time he felt like this, was when he learned about the Fox at graduation day.

That's what he wanted to say but those were someone else's memories. In a way he had never actually gone through what he remembered but he still felt it. He still felt the pain of those memories and experiences. He remembered how it felt when Haku died, when he was growing up alone, the anger he felt when he thought Sasuke had been killed in Wave, the fear he had in his first real fight with the Demon Brothers.

He couldn't just say that all that meant nothing because it still meant something to him.

"Hey Sakura-chan...hey...Sakura-chan!" He called over to get her attention.

"Don't call me that," she said.

"Well why not?"

"Because I'm not Sakura Haruno!" She yelled at him as he saw the tears in her face. "I'm not her, I'm just a copy, a fake." She put her head back to her knees. "What does it matter when everything you know is a lie? I don't know anything anymore."

She felt totally lost, to her nothing really mattered anymore. Her past didn't matter, everything she knew was gone or changed she didn't even know this village anymore. Nothing was familiar she didn't have anything anymore. Not her name, her past or her memories, she had never felt so isolated and alone in her entire life which she had to remind herself wasn't really that long.

She only seemed to go deeper and deeper into her depression with no hope in sight to get out of it. She was starting to wish she had never woken up that maybe she was better off that way.

Naruto didn't like seeing her like this, okay sure they might not be who they thought they were when they woke up but that didn't mean they were nothing. He got up and faced one of the walls and started punching it with one hand. Sakura jerked from the sudden impact as she saw him punch it again and again.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

He just kept punching with his first until she noticed blood on the wall.

"Stop that you're hurting yourself!" She jumped off the bed when he didn't stop and she had to grab his first. "What are you crazy, doesn't that hurt?"

"Yeah it does," He said in a soft tone and looked at his bloodied knuckles and actually gave a small smile showing the first to her. "I bleed, I hurt, I think, I feel. So what if our memories might not be our own, everything we do form this point on is ours. We're real, I don't care what anyone else says but we're real, that's my blood on the wall, I feel the pain in my fist so I know I'm alive."

"I'm alive and I'm going to stay that way and live my life how I want to live it. I'm going to keep going because we make our life from now on."

Sakura was taken aback by his words and for some reason some small part of her wanted to believe in those words. It was the first time she felt like maybe there was more to her life when she found out she was a clone. The future might be the only thing they had now, although she still wasn't sure what to do now. They really didn't have much and it was kind of scary to not know what the future would hold for them.

She looked around and decided to rip apart a sheet to make a bandage as she quickly came back to wrap his bleeding hand up. She told him to hold still as she tried to remember those first aid lessons at least with all the memories of the real Sakura in her head she had the skills to help out. Naruto blushed a bit when he felt her soft hands going to work it felt nice. Yeah they might not be who they remembered they were but all those old feelings for this girl were still there.

He couldn't help but look at her lovely pink hair, he loved her green eyes and how expressive they were, he even liked her forehead. He didn't care if any memories of her were of another girl, he still liked her and like he said he could make new memories with this girl.

She gave a soft smile as she finished, "Idiot...what is with you and self inflicting wounds on yourself?"

He gave her a confused look.

"Remember the kunai you stabbed into your hand...well you know what I mean," She shrugged this would take some time getting used to. Sharing memories that had happened to others but not to them was strange. It was also just easier to just use those memories since for the moment it was one of the few things they had in this world.

He only grinned and laughed a bit, "Maybe that just means we act the same way or something no matter who I am."

"Or you're both just masochist."

"What's that?" He asked.

Sakura just sighed, "Never mind I don't think I want to explain that one to you. How does that feel?"

Naruto tested the cloth and although his hand still hurt it wasn't bleeding anymore. It was odd, normally he would have healed by now, another reason to show that the stupid Fox wasn't inside of him anymore. He guessed that was a good thing in a way, that had caused him all kinds of trouble but he was wondering what this meant overall. He really didn't think much about what the Fox could do for him and it was something he would have to figure out.

"So...now what?" He asked her.

"I'm not sure," she sat back on her bed. "I guess...we start over?"

Naruto shrugged, "Fine with me, I wonder if we'll get to be on a new team or something? Plus I want to know what happened, I mean everything's changed and I want to know what else we've missed out on."

Sakura nodded there was a lot to catch up on, years worth of stuff to be honest.

"Hey uh...can I still call you Sakura-chan still?" Naruto asked her blushing a bit. "I mean we really don't have anything else to call each other at the moment."

Sakura starting thinking about it, it would be odd to still call herself Sakura even though that was the only thing that she could think to call herself. She had all these memories of being called that and even if she decided on a new name if only she wouldn't be confused with that other Sakura, it would take time to get used to that.

"Sure, you're right we really don't have anything else to call ourselves."

Naruto only grinned at her. "Hey when they finally let us out of here how about-"

"Don't push it," She told him knowing full well what he was going to say.

Naruto only slumped, shot down again before he even got a chance to finish.

**-Haruno Household-**

Sakura had gone straight home after the meeting with the Hokage and honestly she had no idea what to do. There was now a 'little her' in the world now, she couldn't ignore that fact in fact she would most likely see her and what would that be like? It was just all strange, it was like the young girl she had been had been taken from that time and placed into this one. That had to be extremely lonely not to mention scary plus what was going to happen to the girl?

When Tsunade was finished how would they live, would they still be registered as ninja and if so then what? Where would they live or what name would they pick because having two people named Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki was hard enough.

Currently she was in her room on her bed just looking at the ceiling lost in thought. Her room was a simple and neat look, well new room actually. This home had been replaced like every other home in Konoha after Pain's attack. Her parents had finally gotten things nice and had replaced mostly everything that had been lost. That had been a heart breaking time as she had helped her family dig through the ruins of their old home looking for anything that survived as did many others. A few times she had caught her mother crying over lost family heirlooms or special things that were damaged beyond repair.

She hadn't thought about how difficult it would have been to rebuild the village, yes the daimyo had given the village money to help rebuild but rebuilding the houses was only the first step. Even in a ninja village there were lots of civilians that would have to take out loans to restart businesses or help rebuild a building that wasn't fully covered. Her parents ran a decent shop given her father was a merchant and her mother helped with the store. Her family had taken a loan to get the inventory up and running, thankfully her father was a good business man and ran a store that sold many items that the village could use in rebuilding.

In fact their home was right above the store, it was slightly larger building than the old one and they actually got a guest room, although personally Sakura didn't see the point of that they didn't really have guests that spent the night.

But she knew she was trying to avoid the topic thinking about how things had changed instead of her clone, just thinking that was strange.

"Sakura?"

Her mother's voice called out as Sakura snapped back to reality.

"Yes mother?"

"Dinner is ready."

She looked at the time and was surprised to see it was dinner time she had totally lost track of time. Pushing herself up she went to wash her hands before eating. As she got to the kitchen/dinning room, she could see her parents were already sitting down. Her mother was just finished putting the last dish on the table we her father was sitting down.

By looking at Mebuki Haruno you could see the slight resemblance to her daughter's face only she was older and a foot taller. This was also where Sakura got her green eyes from although her mother had more blonde short hair with a bang in front. She was a warm and nice woman that was your typical house wife.

Her father, Kizashi Haruno was a typical man only he had strong features but a kind face. Which helped him out as he dealt with people all the time so he was very practiced in giving off a friendly personality to others to make them more at ease in his store, plus it helped that he was naturally a nice person. Even if he did like to make lots of jokes sometimes, although now this is where she got her pink hair from.

He had spiky dull pink hair with the hair with side burns that went under his nose into a pointy moustache.

Sakura sat down but it was hard for her to concentrate on what her parents talked about as they ate, she even wasn't really that hungry as she picked at her food. Just what was she supposed to do with this, there was another her in the world but again this wasn't really her. She sighed out loud not getting anywhere.

"Sakura what's wrong?" Her mother asked. "You're too quiet and you've hardly ate anything."

"Did something happen today?" Her father asked next.

Both parents knew that their daughter had a lot of responsibilities it was still odd getting used to random people praising their daughter for what she had done. To them it was hard not remembering the shy little girl who used to come home crying from being bullied.

"Well...today something did happen," Sakura knew that eventually word would get out if it hadn't already. They had walked through the village together and plenty of people had seen so it was better that they heard from her. So she explained everything that had happened today, from meeting her clone to how the young girl was currently in the hospital with the Naruto clone.

Her parents of course well it was shocking news to being with.

"Are you saying that there is another 'you' running around?" Her mother asked with wide eyes.

"Well kind of," Sakura shrugged, "She looks and acts exactly like I did at that age she even has all the memories I have at that time. I mean she's me, exactly like how I used to be and every time I look at her I can't help but seeing that. I also can't help but feel sorry for her."

Her father looked interested in that, "Sorry for her in what way?"

Sakura thought about it for a moment, "She never asked for any of this, she didn't ask to be created in a lab with all my memories placed in her head. She's a living person but I don't know what's going to happen to her. I feel...responsible for her."

"Responsible," Her father asked confused. "You'll have to explain that one."

"Well it's just that, I know that they were made by Orochimaru but he used my DNA to make her. She's a part of me." She didn't want to say how as a medic it made her feel slightly violated that someone took a piece of her and was doing who knew what to it. But this little girl was a part of her and she felt like she had a responsibility to the girl.

"So what do you want to do?" Her mother asked.

"Well...I was thinking...maybe we could take her in?" Sakura looked at her parents. "I know it's strange but she's got no one else."

"It's a little hard to wrap my head around," Her father sighed at the thought of seeing a younger version of his daughter in the flesh living here.

Mebuki however was slightly quiet for a moment, "Sakura this is something that we all will have to decide on but if we are then we should at least meet this...well this person."

Kizashi looked at his wife and was wondering what she was thinking but there was a good point to it all. Chances were they would eventually run into that girl even if she didn't live here, they couldn't just ignore her presence for the rest of their lives. Although he wasn't sure about having the girl live with them just yet, it was just so strange. But looking at the content look on her daughter's face he couldn't help but at least let her try it her way. She was fast becoming her own woman and it wouldn't be long until she found herself a boyfriend and most likely leaving home.

It was hard for a father to let go of their child and Sakura was their only child. He couldn't deny her something that she wanted so badly.

**-Naruto's apartment-**

For Naruto he had gone off just wondering the village, then he got some ramen but it hadn't made him feel much better. He gone off just walking trying to think, he had no idea what Orochimaru was up to but that man had done a lot of things that Naruto could never forgive the man for. Now he had been growing people and was going to use them for his own ends. Naruto wasn't sure what for but he knew that in a way those two were lucky that Orochimaru was killed and they had been found.

They now had a chance for a life that wouldn't be dictated by that man but now that they were free what in the world would they do now? Looking at a younger version of himself had brought back all the memories of that time for himself. He had just been made a ninja, was part of Team 7 and for the first time he felt like he was a part of something. That was when things had started to change for him and when he had started to really grow as a person.

Seeing the young clone only helped to show himself where he had come from and where he was now. Naruto ended up back at his new apartment it was a bit nicer than the old place and he was thankful that it was still the top most apartment with a view. That was something he had always liked about his old home. Walking up he went to his door and closed it behind him. The place was a little unkempt but Sakura had slowly been getting him to keep the place nicer.

She said that if wanted people to come over they shouldn't feel grossed out by what they found. Plus it was healthier for him as well but honestly he hadn't been sick a day in his life. Still it was kind of nice when she came over from time to time to check up on him. Maybe that was a reason why he kept the place not totally nice, just to give her a reason to keep on visiting. He grinned at that thought as he looked around.

It was still strange, everything was new and nothing remained of his old place anymore. Sure it had been a lonely apartment but it had been his home for his entire life. He knew every bit of that place and held a lot of memories. Tsunade showed him this place herself when she told him it was his new home, her gift to him.

The main room was also the living room the kitchen could be seen as there was a small wall that separated the two rooms. There was a single bathroom and two rooms, he wasn't sure why he needed all the extra space, Tsunade said that he might need it for one reason or another but Naruto wasn't sure what she meant by that. So he just used it for storing things in there for now. Going into his bedroom he flopped down unto his bed. There were only a few items still around that he had managed to dig out from his old place. They were kept mainly in this room.

He noticed a picture of Team 7, it was a copy that Sakura gave him since hers has survived he was happy for it as it only reminded him of good times.

He needed someone to talk to about this although he wasn't sure who might actually he could talk to about all of this. There were lots of questions he had but his thoughts were interrupted when he felt something pulling on his mind. It was only a slight nudge but one he knew who it was from. Closing his eyes Naruto slowly slipped into his inner mind.

He looked around, it was no longer the sewer that he had known but an open space, laying there in the center of a large white area with a seal of some kind under him was the Nine-Tailed Fox waiting for him.

"Hey Kurama you don't usually call me here what's up?" Naruto asked the being. Ever since the war his relationship with the Fox had changed. Oh sure the Fox still had an attitude but Naruto figured he was just putting up a front. After releasing the other Bijou into the world with the destruction of the statue that held them, Naruto had earned some respect from the large fox.

"I wanted to tell you that there is something about those two that I sensed." The fox spoke to him. "Something like an echo when they were near us."

"Huh, an echo, what's that supposed to mean?"

The fox growled slightly in frustration as even he was having a hard time trying to get the words right. It was hard to explain as it was more of a feeling that he hadn't felt before. It also didn't help that his latest host wasn't exactly the brightest at times either.

"I'm not sure but there is something about those two that when they're near I can sense something from them. It's like looking into the reflection of a pool something that is there but not exactly there." Kurama tried to explain.

"That...doesn't really help," Naruto told him confused.

"It's the best I can do!" Kurama yelled at him as he was getting frustrated with trying to explain it. He never was one for patience after all out of all the other Tailed Beasts. "So, what do you plan on doing with them?"

Naruto was silent a moment as he had been thinking about it. "Well in a way, they're us at least a part of us. That younger version of me deserves to have a life of his own and I feel like I should help out. I know what it's like being alone in the world and I don't want him to suffer through that again." He looked up at the fox as he was starting to make his decision.

"I think it's best to help him out, I mean in a way he's kind of like a little brother to me," Naruto grinned suddenly. "Hey I kind of like that, he's like a lost family member I didn't know I had."

"Hmm," Kurama couldn't hide the smirk on his face. This boy had come a long way and seemed to inspire those around him, even the others who had only accepted one human in their long lives had all accepted Naruto Uzumaki. Looking at the boy it wasn't hard to imagine a certain old sage that had 'given birth' to them all.

"Somehow I think the world is in trouble with two of you around," Kurama told him.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled out insulted. "More of me would only make the world better! Look at what I did so far! Besides there's nothing I can't do and with two of us nothing will be impossible."

"Except for getting together with a certain pink haired girl you've had your eye on for how many years now?" Kurama asked him as Naruto's wind was taken out of his sails with that reminded. "In fact hasn't the only person you've ever kissed been-"

"Don't bring that up!" Naruto had been trying to years to forget that Incident. He was lucky it hadn't permanently scared him for life. Plus that was a low blow that he brought up Sakura, things were settling down and they were just getting close. Okay sure sometimes he still asked her out and they did eat together at times but it was more a friend thing. He had spent years trying to get the village to recognize him a few more to get Sakura to fall for him, well that would be time well spent and worth it in the end.

Kurama chuckled. "Personally I don't get his human mating ritual stuff, I never understood it in any of my hosts and I've been in both males and females by this point."

Naruto hadn't thought about that, "Hey you remember everything about my mom right?"

"Of course my memory isn't as faulty as yours," He couldn't help but stick it to him a little now and then. If only to remind the boy that they might be partners now they weren't on a level like the Sage for now. "But I still don't understand the human need for this I still remember the night you were created. I figured it was my best chance to escape from your mother. Although why your parents were-"

"I don't want to know, I don't want to know!" Naruto waved his hands around before placing them on his ears. "I don't want to know what they were doing when they had me!"

Naruto quickly pulled out of his inner mind and found himself back in his room. He tried not to think about what the Fox was telling him. He really didn't want to know anything about 'that' part of his parents lives. He felt a little sick just thinking that his parents had to have sex to have him, no kid wanted to know what their parents did in those times.

"Damn you Kurama that wasn't funny!" he shouted out knowing full well the fox could hear him. Although for a brief moment he thought he heard a laugh but maybe it was just his imagination. He sat on his bed and crossed his arms pouting slightly. "Stupid Fox that was mean..."

Naruto tried to think of something else and he thought back to his clone, he had an idea for both of them but he would have to talk to Sakura about it. But while talking with the Fox he felt that he knew what he had to do now. He would of course talk to Sakura tomorrow about his idea and get her opinion of it after all they were in the same boat together. He hoped that she might like it because it could solve some issues. Of course it also depended on if the clones would agree to it as well.

Meanwhile back in his inner world Kurama was thinking long and hard about what he had been feeling. It was just the strangest sensation but one he was sure he had felt before during the war and in another time. It was almost like he was feeling a shadow of himself out there in the world. Whatever it was he knew that Naruto planned on seeing those clones again. So Kurama decided to pay extra attention to them in the hopes of finding out just what he had sensed.

**Next up Chapter 4: Choices**


	4. Choices

**AN: Just so you know everything up to issue 576 is canon in this story but things might change given that the story wasn't finished of course when I wrote this.**

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 4: Choices**

Sakura had woken up that day as she had a long day planned out, she had talked with her parents again that they wanted to meet the young clone of herself. She would have to talk to Tsunade about it and set it up of course but first she wanted to see Naruto. They hadn't really said much to each other since they had left the office yesterday but she wanted to see what he planned to do.

It was fairly early so she wondered if she should stop by his place or try one of the other places he might be. As she walked to the first place she thought he might be at she couldn't help but think how things had changed while thinking of her clone. So much had changed and not just the village's look, they all had changed. Back then she knew that she hadn't been the best of friends with Naruto, she had been an immature child back then, she had grown a lot over the years and now Naruto was her best friend.

Well best male friend at least while Ino was her best female friend, thinking on it she knew more about Naruto now than she ever did back then. She knew more about his past and about the person that the world now knew about. He may have become one of the most famous ninja in the world but she still knew things many didn't. Like how much of a slob he could be if she didn't help to keep him cleaning his home, his love for jokes, his near obsession with orange clothing and ramen. Plus she knew that he would do anything for those that were important to him even doing things that scared the crap out of her and made her worry.

She arrived at her first destination as she smiled hearing his voice she knew she might find him here.

The Ichiraku ramen shop had been rebuilt since Pain's attack. It was no longer a stand but an actual small shop now. It wasn't very much larger but they were able to build a small shop with a sliding door that was usually kept open in business hours. The counter looked the same as it has originally only slightly longer now with a few more seats. Off to the right was where two new tables were for larger groups or when the counter area was filled. It looked very much like the same old stand the style hadn't changed all that much. The smell of ramen could be smelt as soon as you got to the door and over time Sakura had to admit that she had grown to like it.

Even Teuchi had taken on some extra help with the orders and business. He even got a delivery system set up now. Once people found out that this was Naruto's favorite place to eat it wasn't long until many people started coming he could afford to expand the business slightly.

Of course as their number one costumer Naruto got his own seat right at the bar so he could be served in person. Going through the small doorway she could see Naruto already talking with the father and daughter team as one of the servers was taking an order at one of the new tables.

"Hey Naruto," she sat down with him.

"Hey Sakura-chan, good morning!" He grinned before he started to eat his bowl of ramen. By the two already empty bowls he had already gotten a good start.

She shook her head, "I swear I don't know where it all goes plus that can't be healthy to eat that all the time. You really should eat more than just ramen, I know you love it but there is too much of a good thing." She had been trying lately to get him to eat more healthier sure he healed fast but honestly as a medic she knew what the kind of diet he put himself on could do to the human body.

Naruto pouted, "But it tastes too good."

Ayame could only giggle at their interaction as it just looked so cute to her. "You know you act more like a wife than a girlfriend."

The reaction was immediate as both teens blushed, Sakura more so. "I'm not his girlfriend, we're friends and why did you say that?!"

Ayame could only giggle as Sakura got more red in the face when she noticed Naruto giving her a slight look. It was just so fun to mess with them at times, Naruto was like a kid brother to her given that he had been coming to their shop for years. She remembered when Naruto was this cute little boy so full of energy and how much he loved their cooking. Over time she had watched him grow up into a fine young man and she had also seen the changes between him and Sakura.

True in the start Sakura had been pretty much ignoring Naruto but over time she had opened up to him. She remembered how sometimes Sakura would come here when Naruto had been on his three year training trip and order a meal, sometimes casting looks to the place Naruto usually sat. Ayame figured that's when the changes had started when Sakura had started to miss Naruto being around.

When Naruto had finally come back those two were a lot more friendly and open with each other. There had been that mad time after the war when Ayame knew that it was Sasuke that caused that but they had been there for each other and that's when she felt that the two of them had become slightly closer. Looking at them now she couldn't help but think that they looked almost like a couple sometimes.

"A-anyways I wanted to talk to you about something," Sakura tried very hard to get the conversation back to what she had planned. Ignoring the slightly older girl who was trying to hide a knowing smirk on her face, Sakura wanted to talk about what she had decided on trying.

"I told my parents about...well them and I talked it out with them. I think maybe I want to see if she'll want to stay with me. I mean I feel kind of responsible for her and when I look at her I just...I just keep seeing myself at that age. I want to help out but I want to set up my parents visiting her because it will be up to them."

Naruto looked at her for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Looks like you had to same idea as me, I got that whole extra room and all plus it might be nice. Never had anyone living with me before and in a way it would be like having a little brother around." He chuckled smiling even more.

Sakura couldn't help but smile when he looked like that, it was infectious and thinking about it, it kind of might be nice to have her clone around in that way. Sakura was an only child herself but she pushed those thoughts aside. She didn't want to get too far ahead of herself plus it would still be odd if this worked out. Seeing a younger version of yourself all the time would take some getting used to not to mention how odd it would be for her clone to live in this world. Thinking about how her life had been back then to how it was now, so much had changed it was barely the same life anymore.

"Well we'll talk to Tsunade-sama when you're finished then we can visit them and tell them our ideas and if they want it." She told him.

"Sounds good to me," Naruto grinned before finishing his meals even quicker.

"Naruto slow down or you'll choke!"

"But I want to get there quickly."

Ayame could only shake her head seeing them interact and how Sakura took one of the napkins on the table to wipe some of his face off. Sometimes she didn't know if Sakura acted more like a girlfriend, wife or mother to Naruto. But even when Sakura chided him, Naruto seemed to enjoy it maybe because someone was actually making a fuss about him something he rarely had growing up. Maybe it was because it was Sakura doing it or it could even be both.

At any rate Ayame wanted to keep an eye on them just to see if anything more interesting developed between them.

**-Konoha Hospital-**

It had taken a few hours to set things up but currently Naruto and Sakura were on their way to visit their clones. They wanted to talk to them and ask them if they would like their ideas, although it would be odd for everyone involved. Sakura wasn't even sure her parents would even agree but she would at least help the girl out in any way she could if that was possible. Walking down the halls Sakura felt a little nervous about all of this, this was a major step that would change all their lives but they couldn't hide from this.

Looking at Naruto and how calm he was, in fact he even looked excited, that was just like him honestly. She also couldn't help but look around the new hospital had only just finally been completed two months ago although they were still setting it up. She knew just how much as well, a lot of responsibilities had fallen to her lately. With the war over they had a lot of healing to do both physically, mentally and emotionally. A lot of people came out of the war with injuries that ended carriers or post traumatic stress from seeing friends die.

It was all just horrible at times, she still remembered all the blood on her hands from trying to save life after life sometimes she even had nightmares about it.

"Hey you okay?" Naruto noticed Sakura getting a faraway look on her face. He noticed that she did that at times, mostly getting a sad look in her eyes. He didn't like it when she got those looks, her green eyes should be alive and happy and full of life like how he always wanted them to look.

"I'm fine just going through what to say to them is all," She forced a smile and waved the question off.

Naruto knew she was lying but didn't press it, he had learned a lot over the years and one of them was that you couldn't force some things out of people. He would always be there for Sakura and when she would open up about it he would be there for her.

They could now see the ANBU guard that was outside the room, personally Naruto didn't know if it was really necessary but Tsunade said it was just how things were done in unknown situations. The guard let them in with no problem of course. Of course as soon as they got in they were greeted by sounds that were so familiar that it was like stepping into the past for a split second.

"It's not that bad," the young Sakura clone told her counterpart.

"But they hurt," The young Naruto whined rubbing his arm.

"Jeez you weren't complaining when you hit your hand against the wall yesterday."

"That was different."

"What is going on?" the older Sakura asked not sure what they were talking about.

The young clone turned to look at her and crossed her arms, "He's still complaining about the latest blood samples they took."

"Ah, needles." Naruto knew what his clone was talking about now. He hated needles they always seem to hurt too. Plus there was just something wrong about having something metal thrust into the human body. Sakura kept telling him that he was just being a big baby and that it was nothing compared to when he had shoved a kunai into his own hand or all the other injuries she had healed as well.

"Honestly you're just being a baby about it," The Sakura clone stated rolling her eyes.

Naruto tried not to snicker at how he had just been thinking that same thing.

"Please tell me we can get out of here!" The young Naruto begged. "It's so boring in here, they don't let us out and we're just stuck in here all day when they keep doing things like sticking needles into us."

"Well that's why we're here," Sakura told the two of them. "You see the tests are showing that you're both healthy from what Tsunade-sama just told us but we have no idea what will happen to either of you two."

They could see how the young clones suddenly looked more sullen. They knew that they had nowhere to go outside of this hospital or even knew what exactly to do. Although they hadn't talked about it both knew that they had no clue what to do first when they got out of here.

"Yeah Sakura-chan and me have an idea," Naruto smiled at them and looked at his clone. "I got a spare room that I'm not really using. It's got nothing much in it at that moment, but I can fix that quickly. I mean I know it's weird and all but I figure who better to have you as a roommate than me? We're basically the same so we should get along right?"

The younger version thought about it as his face showed. One the one hand he really didn't have any other place to go but living with someone that looked like an older version of him is strange. Just looking at him now it was surreal but on the other hand he kind of had a point. Maybe living with him would be easy if they were very much alike.

"What about Sakura-chan then?" he asked.

The older Sakura spoke up now as she walked in front of her own clone. "Well I told my parents about you and honestly I think you should come with me. I mean genetically we're family even if it is by some strange circumstance. But they wanted to meet you first."

The young girl looked down as a sad feeling was on her face. "Why? I mean I'm not their daughter, not really."

Sakura sat down next to the girl. "Well in a way you are I mean like I said you have the same genes as me which came from my parents. Besides that what do you think, would you want to come with us?"

The young girl was still trying to grasp everything that was happening but deep down she wanted to go to the home that she had memories of. She remembered home cooked meals, being tucked into bed when she had been little, times her father had carried her on his shoulders through the streets. She had all these wonderful memories but knowing now that they were the memories of the older girl next to her left her feeling empty inside. She had all these memories of a loving family and the emotional connects that went with them.

She hadn't voiced it but that had been one of the things she had been so agonizing over. If she had to go out on her own what would happen if she ran across the Haruno family? Could she just ignore them or could she even face them when they wouldn't recognize her? She thought that it either happened a piece of her might just die inside. She felt alone enough as it was in this world she woke up to.

Sakura could only imagine how this younger girl was going through, although thinking back to how she was back then it did give her a decent idea on what she might be thinking and feeling at the moment. She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"No matter what you won't be along in this," She promised the girl.

"Yeah and you can come live with me then if it doesn't work out," the young Naruto clone grinned.

"Naruto only has the one extra room though," Sakura looked at her own counterpart as he nodded not sure what to do with two of them. She was sure that no matter what he would take the girl in too even if he did look a little uneasy on how the living arrangements might work out.

"Well...she could you know..." The young clone nervously played with his hands looking around.

The Sakura clone narrowed her eyes, "You better not be suggesting we share the room."

Now both Sakuras were glaring at the young boy who had blushed at the comment. He thought that the memories of how scary his Sakura could get while angry was something but seeing the older one, well she seemed to have perfected it somehow. For some reason the older version seemed even scarier. He quickly looked to the older 'him' but he was looking away.

'Traitor!' he mentally cursed at him. Although the more grown up Naruto had the experience to have learned a few things over the years one of them was try not to get on Sakura's bad side. The young clone didn't know that his Sakura could hit a LOT harder now on. He paled a bit remembering a few of those lessons that she had to 'beat into his thick skull' a few times. Although he knew he had it coming, those still hurt.

"Naruto," The older Sakura said slowly to her counterpart. "You wouldn't make a young girl share a room with him alone would you?"

"Of course not!" He said quickly knowing full well he shouldn't have done that. Although some part of him couldn't help but think of it. How he would have loved back in the day to share a home with Sakura and the thought of a bed? Well that soon got him thinking about how that would work with his own Sakura as he felt himself heat up at the thought.

Sakura did notice the blush but figured it was from being called out on this, although some part of her was wondering if he was thinking something perverted. For some reason she got that 'vibe' but they had more to think about. Turning to the young girl she looked at her again. "So shall I set things up?"

The young girl thought about it, she needed to do this if only to get this out of the way. Whatever would happen she needed to know. Of course she was nervous, would they even accept someone like her who looked and acted like their daughter and yet was a total stranger to them?

"Okay..." she simply said.

Sakura smiled and nodded looking at Naruto. "I'll talk to Tsunade but I think you should take him out for this." She pointed at the young male clone. "This is going to be kind of private you know?"

Naruto nodded his head, he could at least show his clone where they would be living and all kinds of things. He grinned at the thought of showing him to the others. The faces some of them would have would be priceless, too bad Kakashi was out of the village. Actually now that he thought about it when their sensei got back maybe they would have some real fun with him.

"What are you grinning about?" Sakura asked him suspiciously.

"Heh heh, just thinking maybe we can use them to have some fun with Kakashi-sensei when he gets back from getting back from the Mist village."

"Oh...ohhhh," Sakura's eyes lit up at that as she started to smile. That might be fun after all given all the times they had to wait around for him they had plenty of payback set up.

"Wait Kakashi-sensei is in another village?" The young female clone asked. "Why is he in another village plus aren't Mist not one of the allies we have?"

"Things have changed," Naruto spoke to both her and the clone. "All the major villages after the war agreed to help promote peace so everyone sends ninja to each other villages to help promote understanding and peace." Naruto smiled as he wished Jiraiya could be alive to see this day. The great ninja nations were finally starting to work together. Oh sure there were trouble groups still out there, renegade ninjas or organizations that wouldn't let go of old hatreds or were just bad people wanting to do bad things.

But overall all five of the great nations after the war were finally starting to work together.

"Wow really?" The young girl asked surprised. "A lot has changed..."

"Yep but you'll have plenty of time to adjust," Sakura told them. "Well I better get everything ready."

**-2 Hours Later-**

The young clone had spent the entire last two hours just being nervous as she thought about meeting her 'parents' again, in a way for the first time and yet for her not. This whole affair made thinking and talking about 'past events' hard. Just what correct verb to use at times made her feel like a headache was coming on.

She had no idea what was going to happen thirty minutes ago the older Naruto came to took her Naruto away. They really needed to do something about the names it was getting annoying with two sets of people with the same name. Although she knew that she and her Naruto would have to change their names eventually it would be yet one more thing getting used to. She had memories of being called that 'all her life', even if her life had been mostly in a tube a revelation that still made her feel sick inside.

Just what had they been created for? Where having all these memories supposed to be part of the process or was it a side effect? She didn't feel any different maybe a little weaker but then she had never really used her muscles before now. She sighed again looking at the ceiling, it really was boring in here. At least with her Naruto had been in here his constant talking helped to take her mind off things.

It was so odd she had all these memories of how 'annoying' he was supposed to be but honestly he was the only one she could really use to keep a hold on herself. He was the only familiar thing in her life at the moment something she 'normally' would have felt odd about. There were a lot of questions she had but they could wait she was still trying to process a lot of things now. She was still wondering what the Kyuubi had to do with Naruto, they said that it was inside of him but that wasn't what they were all told.

It was just one thing she would ask at least when things started to settled down some. There was just too much to take in to open up that. Like what happened to Sasuke and why they got so quiet when he was brought up? What other changes happened?

Her musings were cut short when the door opened so she sat up and although she had mentally prepared the sight of her 'parents' there was totally different. She felt her heart leap up into her throat as a part of her wanted to rush over to them but she stopped herself.

Sakura saw the faces of her parents when she had opened the door to the room and saw their reactions to her clone. She knew it would be shocking, she knew it had been for herself that was for sure. Even now looking at the girl it was just so eerie. She hoped that over time that would lessen but only time would tell for that one.

For the Haruno parents it was like being punched in the stomach there sitting on the bed looked like their daughter a few years ago. Kizashi Haruno looked at the girl as he had thought that maybe there might be some differences the he would be able to just tell the difference but this girl was so much like that young daughter that had become a ninja of the village that he wasn't sure what to do.

Mebuki Haruno felt like a fist had gripped her heart she too thought that for a split second their daughter was back to how she had been. She knew that her real daughter was standing next to her but this little girl was evoked such a major emotional response from her that she had been unprepared for it.

"Uh...hello," The young girl said not sure what to say.

Sakura and her parents walked in as Sakura closed the door to give them some privacy.

"So you're...I'm sorry I'm not even sure what to call you," Sakura's mother said.

"It's okay, I don't know either," the clone said slightly sadly. Looking at them all she could see where memories of these people and the life with them. It was so hard seeing them and talking with them but knowing that she wasn't their daughter, their real daughter was standing there behind them.

"I know I'm not really Sakura Haruno but it's not easy, all I know is being Sakura Haruno."

"This has to be hard for you," Sakura's father said looking at the little girl who could only nod. He couldn't help but see a sad little girl that looked and acted so much like his real daughter that it was kind of scary. Also seeing the sight of his younger daughter looking so sad was hard for a father to take. He knew that Sakura was behind him but he still just couldn't help but see his daughter when she was younger looking at the girl.

"How about Sakurai?" Mebuki asked the young girl suddenly hearing that the girl didn't even have a name of her own yet.

"Sakurai?" She asked.

Mebuki nodded, "You see when I was pregnant I couldn't decide on a name. It was either going to be Sakura or Sakurai. If I ever had another daughter I was kind of hoping to use that."

"You never told me that," Sakura said to her mother surprised by this.

Her mother just shrugged, "There is plenty you don't know." Although they never did get the chance to have more children as she had suffered from certain medical problems. Sakura had been their one and only success, before Sakura there had been two miscarriages. They always considered Sakura their little miracle child. Now maybe in some way she could finally get a second child. She had always wanted more children but the doctors had told them that they might not be able to have any more.

Kizashi had a feeling what his wife was thinking, he knew that she always wanted a large family but they couldn't have it. Honestly he would have liked more children too but not at the risk of his wife's health. Looking at the young girl he couldn't help but reminded of the daughter he helped raise into the fine young woman that was with them now. She was too much like their Sakura to just ignore, the same face, the way she acted and sounded. He wasn't sure that if he saw her walking down the street he could just ignore her.

Besides the girl was obviously feeling alone and scared she needed help and looking at her, he couldn't help but think that in some way she was 'family' even if it was by some strange circumstance. He couldn't say that it would be easy or that it wouldn't be strange but somehow it felt right in some way.

Looking down at the girl, "Well what do you think? It's close to the name that I bet you're used to but it would be your own name."

The young clone thought about it, yes it would get some time getting used to but she also felt like it fit her. "Sakurai huh, I think I can get used to it." She smiled a little.

"How about...Sakurai Haruno?" Mebuki Haruno asked the girl as she looked up surprised and with a little hope in her eyes.

"You really mean that mom?" Sakura asked to be certain.

Mebuki smiled and nodded as she looked at the young girl. "I would like to try, she's so much like you that I can't help but see my daughter in her and besides she's family now."

She looked to her husband who only silently nodded.

The young clone now called Sakurai felt tears in her eyes for the first time since she woke up in this new world she finally felt like maybe she could find a place for herself. That she found a place to call home and that meant so much to her. She had nothing and now she had something that she could call her own.

Feeling the tears finally falling down she wiped them away, "Thank you."

Sakura looked on as her mother held the young girl and couldn't help but feel warmth flood her heart at the touching scene. It looked like she would have a little sister living with them now she wondered how much all their lives would change from now on but seeing her look so happy any worries were pushed aside for this one moment.

**Next Up Chapter 5: What's in a Name?**


	5. What's in a Name?

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 5: What's in a Name?**

**Naruto's Apartment**

Naruto was currently trying to fix up the spare room somewhat so that his new house guest or was it roommate or was it family member? Well he wasn't sure how to call it but right now he was moving all the spare equipment over into the small closet. He found the camping gear used for going on long missions and had set up the sleeping bag and found some extra pillows too. It wasn't much but tomorrow they would start looking for some extra furniture.

It would be expensive but it wasn't like he had to spend a lot anyway than normal and three years away with Jiraiya he hadn't really touched his bank account. Plus with missions he had done since the war ended helped but it might be a little tight. But it was worth it, he was used to dealing with a slim budget before he was a genin anyway.

"Hey you still have one of these!" The clone's voice got his attention as Naruto looked behind him as the clone was looking through the closet. The clone had pulled out one of his old jumpsuits that he used to wear all the time.

"Oh yeah I still had one left," Naruto grinned. "I had a few left in the old place but when I was digging through anything that survived I managed to find a complete set." Although he had outgrown those old things he liked to keep them for sentimental reasons. He had been thankful a full set had managed to survive when his old apartment had been destroyed.

"Cool now I got something to wear," The young clone had been in nothing but hospital grey shirt and pants the entire time.

"Yeah you can wear it tomorrow when we see the others, plus maybe Sakura-chan can help with the clothing thing." Honestly he really didn't but he planned on asking her anyway mainly as an excuse just to spend time with her. The look on the young clone told him that he was thinking the same thing. This was interesting to have someone that looked to have the same thoughts as himself, which in a way shouldn't be too surprising.

A bell sound was heard as both boys perked up the timer for the ramen had just sounded as both of them scrambled for their seats and started to dig into their ramen. Both practically wolfed down the cups as they both sighed in the taste of ramen hit their stomachs.

"Man that's good," both of them said at the same time. They shared a look before laughing it was definitely going to be pretty interesting they figured. The young boy had a lot of questions and he wasn't even sure where to start. There was a lot to take in but he was eager to start learning all the things that had happened.

"So what rank are you now, I bet you're already a jonin huh?" the young boy asked.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Actually I'm a chunin. When I was with Ero-sennin I missed out on the chunin exams and everyone got to be a chunin when I got back. Actually Neji was a jonin when I got back."

"Who?"

"Oh right he's on bushy brow's team, he's Hinata's cousin actually." Naruto explained glad that he didn't have to explain everything about Neji. He remembered meeting him at first but he hadn't really taken noticed until that fight between Neji and Hinata. Or how Naruto had fought him over how badly he had hurt his own cousin and how Neji had lost to him. Actually he would save that story for later, that was a good memory when he had stood the winner and everyone had been applauding him. That was the first major recognition he had gotten in life and it had felt good.

"So how did you become a chunin?" The boy asked eagerly to know.

"Well after the war Baa-chan said that she gave me a battlefield promotion which was in her power. Plus she said that it would be a waste of time for me to go into the chunin exams as no one would be able to have a chance." Naruto grinned largely remembering her words when he had been told of his promotion. He still kept his chunin jacket in his closet just in case he needed it. He might have been the last in his class to get promoted but it felt damn good. Now he just needed to work hard on getting further ahead in his career. After all he was going to work his way up to Hokage one day.

"I'm thinking of trying out for special jonin when I get the time," Naruto went on. "Although I still need to learn another element in order to get to be full jonin."

"Element?" The clone looked confused.

"Oh yeah I found out that I'm a wind user, so I can use wind nature chakra."

"So you mean I might be able to learn that too?" The boy looked excited at learning a new jutsu. Naruto looked at the young mirror of himself and smiled remembering those days when he had been so eager to learn anything new. Especially if they were really cool moves, Naruto's mind was already thinking of all the cool things he could teach a younger version of himself. This was going to be really cool plus Tsunade said that he needed to learn some leadership in order to become Hokage so why not start with this?

"So you're like super strong now right?"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle and grin, "Oh yeah I'm one of the strongest there is."

"Awesome! You got to teach me! The boy placed his hands on the table sitting up excited.

"I was already thinking that, how about tomorrow afternoon Sakura-chan and me can show you both what we've learned?"

"That's great, I can't wait to see all the cool things I've missed out on," the boy was full of energy and Naruto was again reminded of how he had been at that age. Sure he could still get excited about things but he liked to think he had matured a bit these last few years. But still, it was infectious and he couldn't wait to start teaching him.

"So what else can you tell me and who's this Ero-sennin?"

Naruto got a bit more serious remembering the old pervert fondly. "Kind of a long story but we got time. I guess it all started when I met him peeking in on the woman's side of the outdoor hot springs."

The young boy made a face at that, "he sounds like a pervert."

Naruto laughed remembering the old man fondly, "Yeah he was, in fact he actually admitted that he was a super pervert and he's the guy that writes those books that Kakashi-sensei keeps reading."

"What?" The young teen burst out hearing that. This guy let someone like that teach him and why did he seem to regard the guy so highly?

"Yeah but I'm getting ahead of myself like I said it was during the chunin exams and I just got to the final part and had a full month of training ahead of me..."

**-The Next Day-**

A young girl had started her day in a very strange way. For Sakurai Haruno her life was one where it seemed every day she would have to get used to so many different things. The new Haruno home for instance was a lot different although the 'feel' of the place did remind her of the home she had memories of. It was nice seeing her 'parents' again even if she still wasn't used to being called Sakurai and she could tell it was a little odd for them too. It had been nearly disorienting waking up in a new room that was unfamiliar to her and seeing her 'older self' was another thing she needed to learn to get used to seeing.

It was getting a little easier but at the same time it gave her a lot to think about. She still wasn't sure what she had missed out on in the years that had gone by but a lot had changed. She wanted to take it slow, that first day so much had hit her that she still felt like she was reeling from it all. Plus she needed to figure out her place in this new world. Team 7 at least the one she had memories of was no longer her team, well there was still a 'Naruto' at least so would have at least one thing she would be familiar with.

Breakfast was sure an odd affair for everyone but being a part of this new family would get getting used to. She also had to wear an old clothing that Sakura still had, apparently it was something her, well their mother, had kept. It still looked like their mother was still a packrat.

Still it was nice to finally get out of those hospital clothing and back into something she was more familiar with. Now she was walking with Sakura to Naruto's apartment apparently, she had never seen his place and wondered what it was like. They got to the front door at the top floor as Sakura pulled out a key and opened the door.

"Wait you have a key to his place?" Sakurai asked with wide eyes wondering what was going on between Sakura and her Naruto. Where they a couple or something? Sakurai wasn't sure she could handle that at the moment not to mention some of the implications.

"We're good friends and teammates, plus I need to be able to reach him and make sure he's keeping his place in order," Sakura sighed opening the door. "I swear he needs to pay more attention to keep his place clean it's just not sanitary and if he wants people to visit more often they might want to have a place that didn't have things all over the place."

Sakurai looked in not sure what to expect but it was surprisingly pretty normal looking, she kind of expected a big mess to be honest how Sakura was talking about it but it didn't seem too bad. It could use some dusting she noticed but that seemed to be okay. Sakurai noticed that Sakura was taking a look around and seemed to nod almost as though she was checking up on him herself.

Again Sakurai was wondering just what kind of relationship had happened between them in the years after the chunin exams? It seemed that Sakura and Naruto had become at least close friends, an alien concept for the young clone given the memories she had seemed like this was further from how she could have seen the future. Then again the 'future' as it turned out was so different than she could ever had imagined.

"Naruto are you still here?" Sakura called out.

"Yeah," Naruto called out as he came out of his room grinning. "Just wanting to see if it still fit him."

"What fit?" Sakura asked him.

"This!" the clone yelled out as he rushed out in Naruto's old orange jumpsuit.

"I thought you didn't have any of those left?" Sakura asked Naruto seeing the young boy in that really made it seem like a younger Naruto had just stepped out of the past. She also wasn't sure that it was a good idea to even have one of those things. Mainly because they were never in fashion and she never could understand how a ninja could be stealthy in bright orange. At least Naruto's new outfit had some black in it.

"Hey Sakura-chan what do you think?" The clone asked the female clone.

"Actually you can call me Sakurai now," she told him. "I thought that having the same name as her would be confusing to everyone."

The young clone thought about it, "I guess, it will have to get some getting used to."

'_Tell me about it, I still think of myself as Sakura,'_ Sakurai thought to herself. "But you should get one too if only so when someone said Naruto with both of you in the same room it wouldn't get confusing."

The young clone thought about her words, "I guess...I know we talked about it but I have no idea what to pick. I mean I'm so used to 'Naruto' it would be weird to be called something else."

"How about something with a good meaning behind it?" Sakura asked him thinking on what they were talking about. "I mean apparently Sakurai was another name my mom was thinking of me but in the end she went with Sakura."

"Hey I know," Naruto perked up at Sakura's words as an idea hit him. He had been thinking of what to call him. A few ideas, mainly people he knew but that might get a little strange too unless it was something like Jiraiya. But that didn't feel 'right' to him at the moment looking at the clone he had the perfect name at least in his mind. "How about Minato?"

Sakura looked at Naruto surprised, since the end of the war they had managed to catch up on a lot that had happened between them. Naruto more so as he had learned a lot about himself and his life and wanted to share it with someone. So Sakura knew what he was getting at and looking at the young boy she couldn't help but feel that maybe it might be fitting in a way. Naruto only had his mother's last name to carry with him and nothing of his father other than techniques of the rasengan passed on by Jiraiya.

"That name sounds familiar," Sakurai muttered knowing of a few people named that.

"Why that?" Naruto's clone asked him.

"It's my dad's name," Naruto told them both as it got quiet that you could hear a pin drop, that is before the young clone burst out.

"What do you mean 'dad's name'? Since when did you know who your, our...well since when did you know!" The young man still had the memories of being an orphan and not knowing anything about his parentage. Well he knew those were Naruto's memories but still the emotions linked to those memories were too strong to ignore.

"Yeah well, kind of a long story," Naruto scratched the back of his head. "But the basic thing is that I learned who my parents were. My mom was Kushina Uzumaki of the Uzumaki clan, apparently she was from another country originally. She met my dad while in school and when he saved her in a mission they kind of got together." He still remembered those memories that his mother showed him when he had 'met' her that one time.

"So...whose..." The clone wanted to say who was 'his' dad but he still wasn't sure if he should say something like that.

"My dad was Minato Namikaze and he was the best ninja ever," Naruto grinned.

"Wait a minute that's the name of the Fourth Hokage," Sakurai crossed her arms thinking that Naruto was just making things up or just trying to embellish things.

"That's right," Sakura nodded her head. "Trust me when he told us all and when Kakashi-sensei even said that he knew all along well, it was a big surprise to everyone."

Naruto chuckled remembering that day.

"Kakashi-sensei knew?" Both kids said at once only the Naruto clone looked slightly hurt and pissed that their teacher had known something so vital and had kept it to himself. Naruto seeing this knew full well as he had through about it for a bit after he had figured out that Kakashi had known, he later had a talk with his sensei and had figured out that the reason behind it.

Naruto placed his hand on the boy's shoulder," Yeah I know but he couldn't tell us, he was forbidden to and also dad had a lot of old enemies and if it got out that he had a son..."

"Oh..." the boy thought about it and it would have made him a target, well have made Naruto a target...this was giving him a headache with all the mental corrections he had to make.

"So how about it?" Naruto asked him. "You think Minato Uzumaki would be a cool name?"

The young boy thought about it, he knew it would get some taking used to but would that make a good name for him? This was something that he would have to be called for the rest of his life, although sharing the name of the best Hokage was kind of cool and if what he said was true in a way he was related wasn't he?

"So if he's your father what would that make him to me?" The clone asked.

"Well...genetically I guess you would be considered his descendant as well," Sakura thought about it. "You have the same genes as Naruto and he's the son of the Fourth so in a way you are related to both of them if you think about it that way."

The young boy liked the idea of being related to the Fourth Hokage, of course he had a LOT of questions for Naruto but he would save that for later. He still had a lot to process knowing all of this, plus he wanted to hear the full story later. Now that he thought about it, maybe having that as his name was kind of cool. He grinned as he looked to Naruto, "Yeah I think I could like it."

"Awesome!" Naruto gave a thumbs up, "well let's go we got a lot to do today."

"Yeah and you're still showing me all the cool things you know later today too!" The clone now christened Minato had been looking towards that for the entire day.

Sakura smiled looking at the two of them, it was almost like Naruto had gained a younger brother. It was then she noticed how Sakurai was very silent as she turned to look at the girl. Sakurai was standing there with a very confused look on her face. She made eye contact with Sakura and seemed to say what had been on her mind.

"Naruto...Naruto of all people is the son of the Fourth?"

Sakura knew what she was thinking, back then, she wouldn't have believed that Naruto could have been the son of such a great ninja. But she knew better now, she had seen him grow from the 'dead last' to being one of the greatest ninja of their generation, if not the best. She padded the girl's shoulder knowing where she was coming from.

"A lot has changed and trust me he's proven himself." Sakura told her.

Sakurai found it very hard to believe, she still remembered Naruto as the clueless boy from school. Looking at Minato she wondered if he had the same potential? She pushed that aside, she wasn't sure she could cope with only one earth shattering revelation at a time for the moment.

**-Konoha Streets, Later that Day-**

Walking the streets was a young blonde woman, attractive in her purple clothing with long blonde hair. This was Ino Yamanaka, member of Team Asuma, well technically it was going through a name change given that her sensei had been killed over a year ago. It just took this long because honestly her team wasn't sure what to call it and they felt like they were honoring his memory by keeping the name alive. Currently the blonde was just taking a walk, the flower shop was slow and she didn't have any missions and the boys were busy.

Well Choji was working with his dad on learning about the food pills that his family used. Choji wanted to see if he could learn to make them himself lately. Shikamaru was actually looking after Kurenai's child at the moment. Ino kind of wished she could have looked after the kid, only a year old and the a one year old was just so cute. But it was his turn after all and they all agreed to help Kurenai out with the child now and then. This was the child that she had with Asuma and they all felt like the kid was a part of their unique 'family' between them all.

She sighed remembering how Kurenai looked in motherhood, she had taken a job teaching now as it would allow her more time to be a mother. Ino thought that was a good idea given that the world was a lot more peaceful lately. But it also made the girl wonder about her own future, she would like to meet a special guy and maybe one day start her own family. Of course not now, she was still young but here she was over seventeen and not even had a boyfriend, hell she still hadn't given her first kiss yet she thought annoyed.

She had been trying to get Sai to notice her but the guy wasn't picking up on the signals, she was thinking of trying to see if maybe she should start looking elsewhere when two familiar voices caught her attention.

"Man why did you have to get so much stuff?" Naruto's voice could be heard.

"Because I only have one outfit," Sakura's voice sounded very annoyed. "Plus why did you have to get so much orange?"

"But orange is cool!"

"What ninja wears bright orange all over?"

"Hey he does and he's a great ninja!"

Ino wondered what they were talking about, the voices were theirs but only one outfit? Did something happen at Sakura's house Ino wondered. The voices were coming from a clothing shop so Ino walked through the door and early bumped into two young teens, that is until the girl looked up to apologise for nearly running into her.

"Sorry about that, see you nearly made me run into someone Naru-I mean Minato," Sakurai told her counterpart. She was still getting used to calling him by his new name.

"What did I do?" Minato asked.

Ino looked at the two younger versions of her two friends, both carrying slight bags with some clothing in them. The fact that the mini-Naruto had on his old orange jumpsuit was shocking that is until she figured out what was going on.

"Alright forehead drop the henge," Ino told them. "I don't know what game you're playing but okay you got me for a second."

"Forehead?" Sakurai only had one person call her that and taking a closer look and hearing the voice she couldn't believe who was standing in front of her. This was Ino, the first friend she ever had and had lost because of their rivalry over Sasuke. Well that Sakura had she mentally corrected herself yet again.

"Are you Ino?" Sakurai had to ask to be sure, the blonde sure had changed since the last memories she had of the girl. Taller of course but noticing that the older girl had filled out better, the memories that were of Sakura made the young clone feel slightly annoyed at that. Not that Sakura wasn't bad but the way Ino seemed to flaunt it slightly with that style of dress made her stand out more.

"Of course I'm Ino now drop the henge already," Ino was getting a little annoyed at it all.

"I'm not in a henge Ino-pig!" Sakurai was getting a little more annoyed now.

"What did you call me!" Ino yelled back bending down slightly.

"Whoa Ino really grew up," Minato muttered slightly but earned a glare from Sakurai.

"What is going on I can hear yelling from the counter," Sakura said as she and Naruto walked over. They had been paying for the clones clothing and Sakura heard some kind of argument going on by the door. As she walked over she saw Ino look up at her and suddenly her eyes widened and looked down and then back up again.

"The hell..." Ino stood back seeing the real Naruto and Sakura walk over. "Sakura?"

"Yeah it's me," Sakura smiled enjoying the shock on her friends face. "Kind of a long story but short version this is Sakurai Haruno and this is Minato Uzumaki."

"Oh okay..." Ino paused trying to comprehend things. "Wait that doesn't explain anything! Why are there two younger versions of you here and what's with the different names?"

"You didn't hear how not long ago Naruto and myself chased two younger versions through town?" Sakura knew that a lot of people had seen it and might have been the talk of the town. In fact they still got looks everywhere they went with the clones in tow. She guessed that it would take time for the full story to get out.

"I thought that was just a stupid joke rumor!" Ino waved her arms out. "What in kami's name is going on here?"

"Kind of a long story," Naruto chuckled knowing he was saying that lot recently.

Ino gave him a withering look, "You think this is funny Naruto?"

He paused a bit, "Maybe a little?"

Sakura had to fight down he grin at that, maybe it was time to start explaining things and Ino was a good start she could help inform everyone else after all. Plus they had been walking a bit and they could use a break, maybe a nice drink and a snack before dropping off the clothing at their homes. "Why don't we all head somewhere to talk about it all?"

Ino rubbed her head thinking that maybe this was going to be a very long day suddenly. "Yeah I think that's good, I mean this is kind of freaky..."

"Who are you calling a freak?" Sakurai said annoyed.

"I didn't say you were just the situation," Ino explained wondering why the girl seemed so hostile it was like back when she and Sakura were at school and at each other's throats all the time. She needed to sit down and hear about all of this, she needed a nice drink and maybe the world would start making sense again.

**Next up Chapter 6: Catching Up**

**A little shorter than the last one but I wanted to spend more time with the friends in one whole chapter.**


	6. Catching UP

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 6: Catching Up**

When Ino woke up this morning she had no idea where the day would take her but this was something that she definitely didn't see coming. Here she was in an outdoor cafe with Naruto and Sakura but also with apparently two flesh and blood clones that were found in one of Orochimaru's old labs that were still being found even years after that man's death. Looking at the two young clones was really strange, they acted and looked just like Naruto and Sakura had back in the day when they all had first started out.

Sakura pretty much gave the majority of the story with Naruto throwing in his two cents here and there as Ino listened about the whole thing. By the end she really wasn't sure what to think anymore, actual clones. Not images or shadow clones or anything else from a jutsu but flesh and blood copies. She didn't even know that it was possible to do something like that. Her limited medical training told her how hard it would be to make perfect clones and ones with memories? She had heard stories about how Orochimaru was a genius before he went insane and evil but to actually pull this off was not something just anyone could do.

"Wow...that's just...wow," Ino needed a moment to process it all. "Okay that's one of the strangest things I've ever heard of in my life. So basically you two took them in and now they're called Minato and Sakurai?"

"Yep and so far it's going great," Naruto grinned.

"Yeah he's going to show me a bunch of cool stuff he's learned later," Minato grinned in an exact mirror of Naruto.

Ino looked at the two of them and she couldn't help it, she just giggled at the two of them and it only got worse when they gave her matching confused looks. When they both asked 'what?' in the same way as well she nearly started laughing.

"Sorry but I couldn't help it," Ino managed to control herself after a few seconds. "It's just...it's so cute it's like you got a chibi-Naruto next to you and you two act so much alike."

"I am not a chibi," Minato said crossing his arms and looking a little cross at her. This didn't help as Ino tried her hardest not to smirk at how he looked.

"Don't tease them Ino," Sakura told her friend with a smile as she took was kind of seeing it.

Sakurai had been strangely quiet the entire time and this was because she was trying to figure something out. The memories she had of Sakura and Ino were of rivals but now they acted all like best friends that they had been. It was odd as she didn't see how the two of them could have healed that rift and some part of her felt a little bit lonely then. She didn't have an Ino of her own in this life, she didn't have any real friends and the truth was she wasn't sure how to make them.

Memories of a lonely childhood and of being bullied weren't the best experience to draw on. Ino had been a great friend once but that had been gone for years but now it looked to be back. She just had to ask what had changed, what had happened that allowed this friendship to be repaired.

"Can I ask you two something?" Sakurai asked as both young women turned to look at her. "What happened to you two? I mean I 'remember' Ino being a major pain and no longer my-her friend anymore."

Ino's eyebrow twitched slightly from being called a 'pain' but she did remember how she acted back in her school days. She thought back to the day when their friendship started to repair and she regained her best friend again. Truth was she was glad that she and Sakura had gotten over things and had become good friends again. All the other girls of their age in schools weren't much for friends, in fact she didn't even really talk with any of them over the years. Well there was Hinata but she was an exception as she had been pretty introverted in school and Ino along with every other girls kind of just overlooked her.

But Sakura had been someone special, a good friend and it had been painful when they had broken their bond of friendship. But having it back, well she didn't want to lose that again. Looking at Sakura, Ino could see that her friend was thinking the same thing.

"Well it all started with our fight in the chunin exams," Sakura started off remembering it. "They had this elimination round and Ino and I were paired up against each other."

"Oh yeah that was a good fight," Naruto smiled remembering it. "You two really tried very hard and gave it your all."

"Thanks," Ino smiled at him. "I think that was the first time I really started to take things more seriously too."

"So...who won?" Sakurai asked eager to hear how it turned out.

"It was a tie," Sakura told her. "We both threw a last punch at each other and both hits landed. We knocked each other out so both of us were out of the last past of the chunin exams. Although I think that fight I learned a lot more than I would have even if I had won. In fact that whole thing was a growing experience."

"Plus we both kind of started to repair our friendship," Ino admitted that Sakura had really shown her some real strength that day. She had to finally recognize that Sakura wasn't the girl she had known that used to always follow her everywhere and had become her own person.

Sakurai looked at the two of them and again she could see the bond of friendship there between Sakura and Ino, a small part of her that still thought of herself as Sakura felt better knowing that the old friendship seemed to be repaired again. She guessed that she would have to stop letting old memories control her emotions.

This Ino was a lot different than the one she remembered, oh sure there were a lot of things she remembered about a younger Ino that she could still see in this one but this older Ino seemed a bit more mature somehow.

"So what about my-I mean his fight?" Minato asked pointing at Naruto. Hearing about the chunin exams he wanted to know how it all turned out.

"Yeah that was surprisingly pretty cool," Ino nodded she still remembered that fight between Naruto and Neji. It had been one of the high lights of those matches, much better than her own idiot teammate's. She still couldn't believe Shikamaru had made a strategy on killing time, although it did work but it had been so boring to watch.

"Yeah Naruto's come a long way," Sakura couldn't look at Naruto now and see the loud mouthed kid in their class that couldn't even make a single clone. Well in some ways if she was honest with herself, he was still a bit immature at times but not as bad as he used to be. But he had come a long way since those days and she was very proud of him and what he had done.

"Thanks Sakura-chan but you've done a lot too," Naruto encouraged her. "You're one of the strongest people I know since you trained with Baa-chan and all."

"Baa-chan?" Sakurai asked.

"He means the Hokage," Ino told her, "I still don't get why he's the only one that can get away with calling her something like that. Anyone else would have been sent to the hospital, plus she's not the only one. I took some training under her as well."

Sakura smirked at how proudly Ino seemed to be before she added in her own two cents worth. "Yeah but you never finished that training either. Unlike myself who was fully trained under Tsunade and the only one to actually learn everything she could teach me."

Ino's eye twitched a little as she hated it when Sakura brought that up. Ino did have some medical training she wasn't as good with it as Sakura had been. Everyone knew that Sakura was set up to be the next great medic of their generation and take over as the greatest medic the world had ever seen. Ino knew that Naruto had come a long way but Sakura had gone far as well. Ino knew that in a fair fight, she couldn't beat Sakura anymore, the girl had surpassed her awhile ago but she wasn't bitter about it.

Well okay, maybe it was a little irritating that Sakura who had been weaker was now stronger but Ino didn't have that affect her much. Besides she had her own reasons to be proud of herself after all she was thinking about going into the intelligence branch like her father and learn all of her family's special mind jutsus.

The rest of the time they spent was talking about a few of the things that the young clones had missed out on. The conversation was skirted around the more sensitive topics for the moment, such as Asuma's death, Sasuke, and the war in general. They focused more on the pleasant things that had happened in the years since the chunin exams. It was turning out to be an interesting evening as they left together.

Walking through the village Ino noticed the strange look here and there but just smiled knowing what people were thinking. Hell she was still trying to get used to seeing a young 'Naruto' and 'Sakura' with her and the ones she knew standing next to her. Still she guessed that life was going to be much more interesting from now on. She was considering what that would mean in the future when a giant white blur ran into them nearly crashing into the two young teens.

Sakurai and Minato were taken by surprise when this giant white beast suddenly was in front of them panting heavily on both of them. It whined slightly as it sniffed them seemingly confused although the two clones were frozen not sure what this thing wanted or if even would attack.

"Akamaru what are you doing?" Yelled Kiba's voice as he and his team came rushing over. They had just gotten back when suddenly Akamaru had smelt something and then took off. The others had just finally caught up as Kiba pulled back his partner. He noticed Naruto, Sakura and Ino but apparently his dog was sniffing two younger kids for some reason. "Akamaru, down boy what's gotten into you?"

When he pulled them back he stopped dead seeing what his dog was looking at. "Wha..."

Sakurai and Minato looked at the large dog as they could now get a better look at it since it wasn't now literally right in their faces. It was a huge white looking dog and it easily looked to out weight the both of them together. Although now they could also clearly see an older looking Kiba in black leather looking at them holding back the huge dog, they also realised that they had heard the animal's name from Kiba as well.

"Ehhh, that's Akamaru!" Both of them yelled out pointing at the dog. The last time they remembered seeing that dog he had just been a puppy that usually sat on top of Kiba's head. Now he was so huge that you could actually ride him.

Kiba blinked for a minute as now he could see what Akamaru had 'said' about something not smelling right before he took off. Now that he was closer Kiba took a few steps closer to examine the two young copies of his friends. He sniffed the air around them but they did smell exactly like Naruto and Sakura, well there was a strange hint of chemicals on their scent but it was a bit mild.

"The hell, they smell exactly like you two," Kiba looked down confused and then to his two friends.

"Wait did you just smell me?" Sakurai demanded at how gross that sounded.

"Of course how else will I know who you are?" Kiba asked her as though it was perfectly normal to go around smelling others.

"Oh right I remember him doing that to me too when I came back," Naruto muttered to himself remembering coming home from his training trip and meeting up with everyone again.

"Kiba-kun," Hinata's voice called out as everyone turned to see Hinata and Shino catching up. They had been with Kiba when he had suddenly taken off for Akamaru. Being the fastest member of their team made it so that they only just now could catch up. The two last members of the team came to a stop at the sight of everything.

Shino had a slight reaction but then with most of his body covered by heavy clothing it was usually hard to tell what kind of reactions he had. Hinata was a bit more obvious of course as she gasped at the site of the two young teens. She looked more closely at the young Naruto of course as he was the spitting image of the boy at that age. It was actually kind of cute seeing Naruto all young again as she felt her cheeks heat up slightly.

"Oh man is this going to get good," Ino smirked at the sight of their faces she wondered if this was how she looked like. "Okay just to save Naruto and Sakura saying it again, since I bet they'll be doing this a lot soon, here's the condensed version."

Ino gave a quick summary of events to explain to the new team as she introduced the clones by the ending of it all. Minato and Sakurai looked at Kiba's team.

Kiba was easy for the clones to figure out how he was since he hadn't really changed all that much he only looked bigger than they remembered. Shino however was a much different story given that his nearly completely covered body made it very hard for them to figure out who he was.

And it was Minato that just had to be the one that had to ask. "Huh, hey whose that guy? You working with someone new now?" He asked Kiba.

"So I still can't be recognized by those that know me," Shino sat a few feet away looking away from them as a dark cloud of depression seemed to engulf him.

"He didn't mean it!" Naruto quickly said remembering how depressed Shino had gotten when Naruto couldn't figure out who he had been. But in Naruto's defense he hadn't seen Shino in two years and he was all covered up now, he barely saw his face when they had been genin together.

"Shino-kun," Hinata said softly feeling sorry for her friend he was actually kind of sensitive despite his cool exterior.

"So who are you?" Minato asked Hinata next.

"Ah...I'm Hinata..." She sweat dropped not liking where this was going, had she changed that much?

"Hinata?" Minato thought about it and then it clicked. She looked a lot different now and she had much longer hair then he remembered. Thinking back to the quiet girl with very short haircut he now remembered her. Mainly it was her unique eyes that made him remember as they didn't look to have changed from the young girl and the one standing before him. "Oh yeah...you were that really weird girl that sat in the back of class weren't you?"

Now suddenly Hinata was sitting next to Shino with the same depressed cloud over her just like his only she was pressing her index fingers together muttering about herself being weird.

"Aw man now they're both depressed," Kiba muttered.

"Damn it Minato don't say things like that to a girl," Sakurai slammed her fist into Minato's head as he grabbed it.

"A girl doesn't like to be called 'weird'," Sakura told him crossing her arms explaining things. She had forgotten how Naruto back then really did put his foot in his mouth a lot. Although she hadn't had to hit her Naruto like that much she still had to get some sense through that thick skull of his. But looking at two younger versions of themselves she realized that she had never really explained why she hit him at times back in the day. So she figured that she should explain it now so that Minato would learn something.

"Oh...sorry Hinata," Minato apologised. He didn't think that would have had been such a bad thing, after all Hinata had been weird. She never really spoke up and stayed in the back a lot, sometimes he forgot she had even been there at least that was what the memories in his head told him.

"Hinata is actually a nice person and she's really got a cool fighting style she made up herself," Naruto said hoping that might make her feel better. It seemed to work at Hinata seemed to be revived nearly instantly being praised by Naruto. It had been some time since the end of the war and she still hadn't worked up the courage to act on her feelings for the boy either. It just never seemed to be the right time or place for her.

"Well I'd love to stick around but we have to report in," Kiba sighed knowing that they needed to report on how their mission had gone soon. "But you know we should get everyone together so they can meet everyone."

"Oh that's a great idea," Naruto beamed at the thought. Plus it would let everyone know what was going on without having to keep going through the same story over and over again.

Sakura nodded her head, "Yeah that sounds like fun let's figure something out."

"Great I can't wait to tell Choji and Shikamaru about this." Ino grinned. "They won't believe me until they see it."

"So what's next for you guys?" Kiba asked the group.

"We're going to the training area after dropping off everything," Sakura told them. "Then we're going to head over to the training area and show them a few things we picked up."

"Hell yeah!" Minato jumped up grinning. "I can't wait to see them all this is going to be great!"

"Man are you guys in for a surprise," Kiba laughed he wished they could watch the kids reactions. With that both groups said their goodbyes as soon Ino left to tell her teammate and that they would get together later and think of where they could get everyone together.

With that Naruto and Minato went off to their place and Sakura and Sakurai went to their home as well to put their shopping items away for later. Then a quick change into clothing a bit more suitable for the training grounds and the four of them were off to meet up at their usually training grounds for their team.

**-Konoha Medical Research Department-**

Deep inside of the Hokage Mountain several areas were made for usually top secret reasons, to keep people safe from experiments or other reasons that needed complete security. One of them was a huge lab used to house and carry out new but experimental research. Right now the department was looking into the items brought by the recovery team of Orochimaru's latest lab. Looking over a large desk with files and papers all over it was Karin as she struggled to wrap her mind around everything that they had been looking up.

So far they hadn't made much progress but it had only been a couple of days since her meeting with the Hokage. In a desk next to her Shizune was currently looking over medical records that they had found and of the clones that the hospital had given them. Shizune was a better with medical knowledge so she was lending a hand but this was a very advance achievement that Orochimaru had done. The notes from the lab either weren't finished or had been mixed up in transport so it was slow going.

Karin sighed as she rubbed her eyes she was getting tired but she would go on for a little longer before getting a break. She picked up another sheet of paper as her mind slowly started to focus on it but something caught her attention. It was a reference to a special capsule, listed at a chakra container.

"Huh, have you seen anything about this?" Karin pointed to the line to Shizune who looked at it. "I think I saw this referenced somewhere else." Karin gave her the paper as she started looking through various files pulling a few out and quickly looking through them.

Shizune looked through her own material and found a note by Orochimaru about 'in fusing chakra from a device into the specimens' was on one of them. Looking through the notes with references to chakra or anything else she found a couple more.

"I think I have found something."

"Ah ha!" Karin picked out a report by the recovery team and another from Orochimaru's research. "I knew I saw this somewhere. We found several special containers, a few looked emptied out but the sealed ones were brought here."

"It might be important, good work," Shizune told the girl who seemed to blush slightly before looking away. Karin wasn't used to people praising her, it had been one of the reasons she had left her original village. Grass was a small village and her ability to sense chakra had been looked down on as a useless skill as smaller villages tended to look for more powerful techniques to make up for their lack in man power.

"Well let's check out what they are," Karin quickly changed the topics as they started to search where the recovery team had placed them. They eventually found the capsules, they looked large and looked to be heavily shielded from something.

"Let's take these into the protective room just in case," Shizune commented as they weren't sure what they were dealing with. So they put the six devices onto a trolley and put it into a sterile room that was used to handle dangerous materials. Then they put on surgical masks and garments just in case as they decided to open just one of them.

They didn't seem to have much of a locking device on it, as the top opened easily enough but as soon as the top was opened Karin was assaulted by her chakra sense. An orange glow was seen and Karin shivered as she felt the malevolence of the chakra. She quickly shut the top and locked it down as she was sweating and breathing hard. Shizune was about to ask the girl what was going on before she noticed the girl shaking.

She gently sat the girl down and waited for her to regain her senses.

"Kaine what happened?" Shizune asked calmly.

"I...I know what's in there, I've felt that chakra before..."

"Chakra? These actually contain chakra?" Shizune guessed that's what the glow had been and why they were so heavily shielded to make sure none of the energy could escape or why Karin hadn't felt anything until they opened one. "Where did you feel this before?"

"In...Naruto Uzumaki." Karin replied.

**Next up Chapter 7: Accidental Release**


	7. Accidental Release

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 7: Accidental Release**

Naruto, Minato, Sakura and Sakurai all met up at the old training grounds, to all four of them nothing had really changed. It looked the same as it had years ago when Team 7 had been formed, even the three posts were still there. It was always nice for Sakura and Naruto to come here to train now and again when they had free time. It had become kind of a ritual for them to make time at least once a week to train together.

"Oh man this brings back memories" Minato stared at the stump he had the memories of being tied to. "You guys left me there."

"Hey we came back, well they came back," Sakurai nodded towards the older pair.

"Yeah that wasn't fun Sakura-chan," Naruto looked at Sakura with a hurt expression.

"I said I was sorry for that," Sakura had apologised after he had come back. When had eaten out together when he has asked they caught up on a lot of things. Even talking about old times when that incident had been brought up she had apologised for it. There were a few things she still felt bad about but all of that would come in time.

Sakurai couldn't help but look on as the two continued to talk about that day. She noticed that the two of them did seem very close a lot closer then she had memories of. In fact they seemed to be very close friends with the way they were talking and it made Sakurai wonder again just what had happened in the years since the genin days. It made her think again on how much had changed but she also had caught some other odd behavior like when that Karin girl had nearly been all over Naruto earlier.

At any rate the two finally stopped joking around and seemed to be getting started.

Sakura stepped up first as she put on her black gloves. "Okay I'll go first you two, now while Naruto was training for two years under Jiraiya I trained under Tsunade in that time."

"Whoa you were trained by the Hokage?" Minato was impressed by that although he really didn't have a good understanding of what Tsunade could even do. Sakurai on the other hand because she had Sakura's memories who was someone that actually studied at the academy, she did have an idea.

"That's right," Sakura smile as she flexed her hands slightly. "I'm a fully trained medic and learned everything from Tsunade-sama as her apprentice."

"She's really great too," Naruto grinned. "I remember this time in the Sand village she took out a poison that no one else could figure out how to cure it. She was amazing and that was the first time I really saw her medical skills too."

Sakura felt herself blush slightly at his praise honestly she didn't see the big deal. She only did what she was trained to do to save Gaara's brother who had been poisoned. But it did feel nice to be praise for her skills, only Tsunade had been one to really do that while training, well thinking back on it, Naruto had always been in her corner cheering. He had always been there helping her whenever he could, sometimes she wished she could go back and accept it more than she had.

"Well I can't use any real medical knowledge since no one is hurt," Sakura went on. "So we'll move into the one technique that I'm the only person that has been able to learn from her."

Sakura grinned as she slammed her fist into the earth as the ground shook like an earthquake was starting, the ground tore up as it split and some parts rose up out of the ground in large chunks. The two young clones had their jaws on the ground at the sight of it all. Sakura pulled her fist out of the broken earth easily enough with a superior smirk on her face at their surprised looks.

'_What kind of insane strength was that!?' _Sakurai thought to herself.

'_I'm glad Sakurai-chan can't hit me that hard,'_ Minato then looked to Naruto and hoped he didn't get hit as much these days. With a punch like that she could do a lot of damage.

"Man Sakura-chan that freaky strength is always impressive." Naruto grinned.

A slight anger tic appeared on her head as she glared at him. "Freaky huh? I can still show them how to reset a bone you know."

Naruto started to panic as he forgot she got sensitive about certain ways he described her strength. "S-sorry I didn't mean it like that!"

He quickly tried to think of a way out of this hoping he might be able to change the subject and get her mind off it. He really needed to work on stop putting his foot into this mouth at times like this, it could get him killed. "Anyways how about I show you a few cool things."

Naruto quickly bit into his thumb and went through the seals quickly as he slammed his hand into the ground. A summoning seal appeared and then suddenly there was a large puff of smoke before a huge orange toad in a blue vest appeared.

"Hey Gamakichi nice for you to show up," Naruto smiled nervously as he could feel Sakura's glare on the back of his head.

"Hey bro nice seeing you again," the large toad greeted him.

"How did you do that!?" Minato looked excited at the giant talking toad while Sakurai shuddered at how gross a giant toad was. That and the thing was actually talking and moving around like a person as well.

Gamakichi looked at the two clones, blinked, and then looked to that older two. "Uh...what's going on huh? I mean you two didn't have a couple of kids or something did you?"

"They're not our kids!" Naruto and Sakura shouted out blushing slightly.

"Humans don't have kids that fast anyway!" Sakura told him.

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" the toad shrugged his massive shoulders. "I'm a toad not a human, I mean for all I know humans spawn fast. You ever see how quick a tadpole grows up?"

"Hey Toad-guy," Minato came up to him waving his arm in front of his face to get his attention. "What are you exactly I mean you're freaking huge and can talk and stuff."

"I'm a summon animal from the Toads, Naruto over there signed up with us," He stopped looking at the boy. It was the spitting image of when he first met Naruto those few years ago as he looked back to Naruto and Sakura. "You two sure this isn't one of your spawn? I mean he looks exactly like you bro and the girl looks like your little girlfriend as well."

"I am not his girlfriend!" Sakura blushed as she raised one of her fist up to show what she might do to the summons if he didn't stop insinuating strange things like that.

"Alright, alright!" The toad knew enough about her that she was Tsunade's apprentice and from what Naruto had told him once, she was just as strong. He didn't want to return back home with a huge bruise on his face and explain to his pop that he got hit by a pink haired girl. "So just who are these two?"

Once again Naruto and Sakura had to explain the whole thing, by this point the two of them pretty much had this down and nearly memorized. It might be easier to just get all this written down and hand out flyers so that they wouldn't have to keep explaining it every time.

"So this guy is like Kakashi-sensei's dogs that he summoned in Wave?" Minato asked Sakurai as he pointed to the giant toad listening to the whole story.

"I guess so." Sakurai only had vague memories of Kakashi's dogs that he had used but from the looks of it Naruto had gained a summons as well. "From what I remember, to get a summons you have to sign a contract with a certain animal tribe."

"Oh okay."

Sakurai looked at him, "Honestly Naruto never studied in the academy didn't he?"

"It was just so boring," Minato whined. "I mean who cares about boring old history or stuff like that? I wanted to learn, I mean he wanted to learn, all the cool stuff like ninjutsu and how to throw kunais."

Sakurai rolled her eyes, "There is more to being a ninja. It's important to know your history because we can learn from it too."

"Well I don't remember anyone really teaching him much of anything, not until Iruka-sensei tried but some things are just hard to really understand. Maybe if someone explained it right, I mean why does everything have to be so complicated?"

Suddenly a large form was next to them as both turned to look right into the very large eye of Gamakichi staring at them. Both cried out in surprised and took a step back as the Toad smiled and sat back a little. "Wow they look and act so much like you two back in the day. Well anyways I'm Gamakichi future boss toad and a summon of my bro other there."

"Future boss toad?" Sakura whispered to Naruto.

"I think I'm rubbing off on him," Naruto grinned remembering the first time a few months back that Gamakichi had told him of his new dream to take over from his pop, the current boss toad.

"N-nice to meet you," Said Sakurai.

"Yeah, hey can I learn to do that stuff too?" Minato liked the idea of being able to summon huge battle toads that he could use in a fight and then pointed to Naruto. "So if he signed some kind of contract with you then could I summon things as well?"

Everyone looked at each other but no one really had an answer to that. Gamakichi shrugged his shoulders again. "I'm...not really sure, for instance you have to sign your name but since you just changed your name right? Although you're a clone of bro here you might have the same blood...wow this is a hard one."

"Then how about I just try and see?"

"Bad idea," he replied thinking about it. "If it works fine but if it doesn't...you're not supposed to try the summoning jutsu without a contract because you can't know what will happen. I've hears stories where someone tried and have been never been seen again."

Minato got a bit pale thinking about disappearing forever, "Uh...I think I'll pass."

"Well you can get the contract and we can do that later right?" Naruto asked his summon. "I mean it's only fitting if my little brother here got to sign it."

"Really!?" Minato looked excited.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Gamakichi chuckled. "I'll go see the Ma and Pa to get the scroll, summon me when you're ready for it." And with that he disappeared in a puff of smoke just as suddenly as he had appeared.

"So what's next?" Sakurai asked seeing Minato with a gleam in his eyes just thinking about learning to use a new jutsu.

"First up my favorite," Naruto suddenly created a clone as the two started to work together. A familiar sphere of swirling chakra was in one hand as he got rid of the clone. The two youngsters looked on in awe at the jutsu that he had done without any hand seals even. Sakurai didn't even know it was possible to do something like that without using hand seals although whatever it was it looked impressive.

"Wow what is that?" Minato looked closer at it.

"This is the rasengan," Naruto explained to them. "I learned it from Ero-sennin."

"Jiraiya," Sakura translated for Sakurai.

Naruto continued on without missing a beat, "This was actually made by my dad the Fourth Hokage. Took me a month to get this down but it was so worth it. I even got a few new versions of this that my dad never got around to it. Like a super version called the Odama Rasengan, it's even bigger and has a bigger impact as well. I also completed the jutsu by adding in wind element to created the wind release: Rasenshuriken."

"Awesome I want to see those too!" Minato said excited at all the cool stuff he was going to see.

"Naruto you are not going to use a Rasenshuriken," Sakura said sternly. "I don't think the training ground and take much more and that move is too dangerous outside of sage mode and you know it. I don't want to take you to the hospital because you accidentally damaged your chakra coils like when you first used it."

"Aw but Sakura-chan, I learned how to use it without damaging myself," Naruto sulked at her but he could see she wasn't going to move on this position. "Okay no Rasenshuriken," although he mentally said 'today' in his head. He planned to show Minato at some point after all.

"So then let me show you what this can do," Naruto rushed to one of the large hunks of earth that Sakura had sent out of the ground earlier. The rasengan hit it as it discharged, which of course completely obliterated the object into pieces that weren't bigger than someone's hand.

Minato's eyes got a gleam in them as he really, really wanted to learn how to do that. It was one of the most awesome things he had ever seen. Sakurai was nearly blown away by the sight, she couldn't believe that such a small sphere had that kind of destructive power behind it all.

Naruto turned back to them with a huge grin on his face, "There we go well that's one cool thing down. Now what should I do next?" He snapped his fingers as he got a gleam in his own eyes. "I know I can show you my new and improved sexy jutsu."

Suddenly Sakura's fist embedded into the top of his skull causing him to cry out before being partially buried his face into the ground.

"Don't you dare use that so called jutsu in my presence!" Sakura raged at him. Honestly why did he have to be so perverted at times? Maybe spending all that time with Jiraiya had been a bad influence on him at times like this. Honestly he should know better by this point to do crap like that. She pulled him out of the ground and placed him on his feet. "Now do the sage mode and don't let me catch you teaching anyone such perverted things. It's bad enough he's got your memories he doesn't need you teaching him even more perverted things."

"Y-yes Sakura-chan," Naruto moaned out.

Both Minato and Sakurai sweat dropped at the sight of the two of them.

'_If I didn't know any better they sound like an old married couple,'_ Both of them thought at the same time.

Naruto sat down as he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. Minato and Sakurai were confused what he was doing as he was just sitting there. Although Sakurai noticed something odd, he looked almost unnaturally still. She couldn't put her finger on it but he seemed to be not moving at all, it was just so odd to look at. Then the two of them noticed something else, some kind of orange coloring slowly started to appear on his eyelids. Suddenly his eyes opened up and they could see his irises had also changed to look like frog eyes.

"Whoa what happened to his eyes?" Minato got a closer look wondering how he did it.

Naruto sat up and stretched out, "So how about a little sparing? I could use the exercise and also we can see what you guys can do as well." Naruto got into his frog kata style that he had learned while with the frogs.

Sakurai and Minato shrugged as they charged forward towards Naruto. Minato went in high with a kick while Sakurai went in low with a punch. Sakura watched on to make sure no one got too hurt, even though she knew that Naruto would be careful accidents did happen. Minato got his leg blocked but suddenly felt something slam into his chest sending him flying onto his back, at the same time Naruto had put a leg up to block Sakurai's fist. She too felt something slam into her sending her back. Both clones blinked in confusion they hadn't seen Naruto hit them but they sure had felt it.

But looking at Naruto he hadn't moved at all, so the two tried again and this time Naruto made sure that he dodged their attacks and then counter attacked also making sure his return attacks missed. Of course even though his physical attacks missed they still felt an attack land on them. Sakura watched on as the two kept trying to attack Naruto but they couldn't even land a hit on him.

She smiled thinking back to the bell test and how outclassed they had been against Kakashi-sensei, now either of them could fight on par with the man, actually Naruto was even stronger she bet. After a few more minutes she could see that the two were getting frustrated.

"The hell is going on here!?" Minato yelled out picking himself up off the ground again getting frustrated. "I'm sure that he's not actually hitting me!"

"I know what you mean," Sakurai told him as she had been sure several of those 'hits' hadn't come from something physical.

"That's enough Naruto," Sakura told him stepping into the group. "We don't want them too banged up and I think they're getting a little frustrated at this point."

"You're damn right I'm getting frustrated!" Minato yelled at her and then glared at Naruto. "Okay so what's the damn trick already? How can you hit me without hitting me?"

Naruto chuckled as he released his sage mode, "That was my sage mode, I learned it while with the toads. It's a really cool technique that let's met gather up nature chakra."

"Wait nature chakra?" Sakurai interrupted. "There's only physical and mental chakra, I never heard of any kind of nature one."

"You're right I didn't know there was a third at first but Naruto explained it once to me," Sakura told her counterpart. "You see there is chakra in nature but apparently we don't notice it unless you've been trained in sage arts. With it you can gather it up for a third chakra type and store it into your body, right Naruto?"

He gave her the thumbs up, "Yep you got it in one Sakura-chan. It makes me super stronger and faster and I can sense chakra in people too. That's how I could dodge so easily because I could sense you coming also I can use that chakra to hit you back without actually hitting you. But before you ask I think I shouldn't train you in that."

"Why not it's kick ass I would be invincible with something like that!" Minato told him.

"Yeah but if you mess up in training you'll turn into a stone toad statue. I saw a whole lot of people that got turned into them and you'll stay like that forever." Naruto said.

"Uh...I think I'll pass on that for now," Minato grew a bit pale at the thought of being a statue for the rest of his life.

"Yep so I guess the last thing I'll show you is my Nine-tail chakra mode that I learned from being able to work with Kurama," Naruto grinned.

"Whose Kurama?" Minato asked him.

"Oh right that's the Fox's name."

"Oh okay...HE'S GOT A NAME!?" Minato shouted out. "Since when did he have a name?!"

"Okay I've kept quiet about a lot of things since I think you'll get to it but what do you keep going on about the Nine Tails?" Sakurai demanded crossing her arms. She had enough people not telling her things that she wanted to know. She had kept quiet about the fox thing as she had more on her mind but that whole thing in the office with the Hokage testing out who was the real Naruto and now this, she needed to know.

"Oh right you didn't know back then," Naruto scratched the back of his head. "You see I'm the host for the Nine Tailed Fox." He pulled up his shirt as she ran chakra through his body and the seal showed up. "You see my dad couldn't destroy it but he sealed it inside of me. It has caused some trouble in the past, you see a lot of people didn't like me because they knew about it, they even told their kids to stay away from me when I was younger. I didn't even know why until graduation why so many used to hate me."

Sakurai looked at him shocked and then looked to Sakura who seemed extremely calm about all of this, thinking back on it she had memories of Naruto being alone a lot she never really thought about it. Looking at Minato she could see a sad look on his face as she got to thinking that all those lonely memories he had as well. Sakurai knew how painful memories could be, she remembered what it was like being all alone as Sakura, yes they weren't really _her _memories, but she still felt the pain from them.

So she could only imagine what he had to go through, it was something she would have to think about.

"So you can talk to the Fox?" Minato asked him.

"Yeah although at first he was kind of a jerk to me," Naruto frowned but then got a bit happier. "But he's just misunderstood. Him and the others were created by the Sage of the Six Paths, I got to meet them all once and learned all their names. In fact one of the jinchuriki are still around, Bee is pretty cool guy maybe you'll get to meet him one day."

"Just don't do that weird rhyming thing you try out when you get together with him," Sakura sighed rubbing her forehead.

"It's called rapping," Naruto muttered as he thought he was good at it at least Bee said he had good potential for it. Anyway he put that aside for now and got on with the explanation. "Yeah anyway with Bee I learned to talk with Kurama and how to really bond with him to do this."

Suddenly Naruto changed only this time it was much more pronounced. It looked like his whole body was turned into some kind of fire with black markings over his front, going to his shoulders and then to this back. It was totally different from his sage mode as the two clones stood in awe at what they were seeing.

"This is my chakra mode and it lets me do really cool things," Naruto had two huge chakra arms grow out of his back as the two younger ones freaked out slightly from it but Naruto only laughed before pulling them back into his body. But then he felt it, he looked really hard at the two of them as he felt something coming from them in this form. It was like an 'echo' of the power he felt around him was coming out of the both of the clones.

Inside of Naruto, Kurama stirred from his nap as he too could feel something from them. It was confusing as he thought he was sensing something from the two clones. It was like he was looking in a small mirror of himself from far away. Without really thinking about it he reached out to 'touch' that power he felt to get a better look at it. What no one knew was the reaction this would get out of the clones.

Suddenly both clones grabbed their stomachs as they cried out in shock as both Sakura and Naruto didn't know what was going to happen. They tried to ask them but the clones weren't able to respond they felt a power flowing through their body like a fire. They cried out and Sakura was about to go to them before Naruto quickly grabbed her shoulder stopping them.

"Naruto what are you doing I have to help them." She demanded.

"Look Sakura-chan, I can feel it now," he explained.

She looked again and was shocked to see that Minato's eyes had turned red, his hair had become more wild as his whisker marks got much more pronounced. She could see a faint energy about them as well, she knew what this was, as she had seen something similar happen to Naruto once before long ago on a certain bridge with Orochimaru. But what shocked her was that Sakurai also took on characteristics, her long pink hair got slightly spiky as her green eyes turned red with slits in them, fangs growing out of her mouth as she grew whisker marks on her cheeks as well.

"It's Kurama's chakra," Naruto explained to her. "They both have it inside of them somehow."

Both of the clones growled at them as they had a wild look in their eyes, it was a primitive look of an animal ready to attack. Both Naruto and Sakura only had a moment before the two young chakra enhanced teens launched their attacks at them.

**Next up Chapter 8: Orochimaru's Experiment Revealed**


	8. Orochimaru's Experiment Revealed

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 8: Orochimaru's Experiment Revealed**

Sakura and Naruto were stunned by what they saw as Sakurai and Minato took on physical attributes to when Naruto first could access the Fox's chakra. The clone's finger nails had turned into longer and more claw like as their hair became spiky. Their red eyes were filled with a wild animal rage and even Sakurai gained large whisker marks that were very pronounced. Both of them hunched over slightly growling as a more animal like nature took over them.

'_Kurama what the _hell _is going on?'_ Naruto mentally yelled at his inner tailed beast.

He didn't get a chance to hear any kind of response at the two clones charged at them with speed that was a lot faster than they expected. Both more experienced ninja were able to dodge the attacks, Naruto in his chakra form was much faster than his clone even when the clone was using demonic chakra.

Sakura was able to dodge but her shirt had ended up getting slightly torn from the other girl's claws. She had misjudged Sakurai's speed and thanked all the training Tsunade put her through for being able to dodge in a fight.

"Sakurai calm down, you have to get control," She wasn't sure if the younger girl could hear her or not. She had seen Naruto in this state only a few times and it scared her what was happening to them. She knew that before Naruto got control, this chakra was damaging to the body. Sakurai didn't seem to hear anything as she roared out as she lashed out at Sakura. She continued to dodge not wanting to hurt the other girl but she might not have much choice if this kept up.

Naruto having a similar problem not wanting to harm Minato, he was easily evading the boy but so far nothing was getting through to him. Was this what he had gone through when he was younger, it was kind of scary to think he had been like this before. Gathering the chakra he sent two huge arms and hands out and grabbed the boy. He thrashed around like an animal as the boy tried to get out. Naruto's own chakra was able to hold him but he wasn't sure what to do.

'_A little help here!'_ he mentally yelled out.

'_**Control his chakra,'**_the Fox's voice called back finally. _**'We should be able to calm it as it is my chakra they have.'**_

Naruto reached out and he found he could sense the chakra in the boy, it was kind of strange like looking at a reflection but only far away. He used his chakra form to reach into the boy and he could feel the chakra in there, it was roaring like a storm in the boy out of control.

'_**He has no biju for control,'**_ Kurama could feel it as well as he reached into the boy through Naruto. He at first thought about taking the chakra out of the clone but he could feel that it was integrated with the boy. If he did that it would kill the boy and he doubted Naruto would like that. Sometimes it was annoying having to worry about things like that, there was a time he would have just taken his chakra back and he wouldn't have thought twice about letting the boy die from it.

He reached in as he took control of the charka making it settle.

Naruto watched at the clone boy cried out almost as if in pain, he nearly let the boy go just in case he was harming him but soon the boy went limp as he started to revert to normal. He settled him down and looked to see that Sakura was keeping ahead of Sakurai.

"Sakura-chan, lead her this way."

"On it," she jumped back towards Naruto as she kept her eye on Sakurai. She let the girl get a bit closer, she saw Sakurai going for a jump. Sakura gauged the distance as she planned things out to the slightest moment. As soon as Sakurai's feet had just left the ground, Sakura jumped herself only her stronger legs made her leap higher and farther.

Sakura jumped high and over Naruto as he rushed in and grabbed Sakurai in midair with his chakra arms. Like before he reached in and with Kurama's help was able to settle the girl's power down. He gently placed her on the ground as Sakura started to look over the two of them.

"Naruto was that what I think it was?" She asked checking their chakra coils and body for damage from the demonic chakra but so far they seemed to be okay.

"Yeah, Kurama said they were using his chakra." He had no idea how that happened but it was a mystery. "How are they?"

"They seem stable but help me get to the hospital, I'll want a better look and we need to tell Tsunade-sama about this."

**-Konoha Hospital-**

Minato groaned as he blinked his eyes as he looked at a familiar ceiling. "Huh?"

He slowly got up feeling slightly drained but otherwise he didn't feel too bad. "How did I end up back here? Last thing I remember was..." He scrunched his face up trying to remember. He remembered the training field and seeing Naruto go into some really cool glowing form, then everything went kind of black.

He heard a moan and noticed Sakurai in a bed next to him as she slowly got up with a hand on her face rubbing it.

"Sakurai-chan?"

"Minato?" She heard his voice and then looked around. "How did we end up back here?"

"I don't know but-what happened to your face!" He hadn't seen them until she turned to face him and what he saw was a surprise.

"Huh? What, what's wrong with my face?" she panicked as felt around her face thinking it might be damaged. She didn't feel anything out of the ordinary as everything seemed fine to her. She looked but he was still looking at her with wide eyes. _"What?"_

"Uh...well you got..." He had trouble just saying it.

Getting annoyed she got off the bed she felt a little lightheaded but she got over it soon enough. Walking to the bathroom she looked in the mirror and let out a surprise yelp.

"What the hell happened to my face!"

Sakurai looked in the mirror as on her face she had the same whisker marks as Minato and Naruto, she rubbed them but they weren't some kind of prank. They looked to be permanent as she tried washing her face next but they were still there. No matter what she did, she even tried thinking it was a genjustu and tried to cancel out of it, nothing would remove the marks. It was then she heard the door to their room open violently as Sakurai looked out to see Sakura rushing in.

"Is everything okay? I heard a scream," Sakura had been down the hall talking to one of the nurses when she heard Sakurai's scream. Looking around she saw the two of them but so far none the worst for wear although judging by Sakurai's face, she knew about the marks. It had been a shock to Sakura herself when the marks hadn't gone away.

"What's going on?" Sakurai asked rubbing her cheeks.

"Well...we think we know," Sakura told them that they had been out for a few hours and in that time they had started to piece together a few things from the medical research team and what had happened. By then Tsunade walked into the room seeing Sakura explaining things, she also took notice of the young girl and had to admit, it was strange seeing a 'young Sakura' with Naruto's trademark markings.

"Tsunade-sama," Sakura greeted her mentor.

"Sakura," she nodded to her and looked at the two young clones. "I assume you have questions."

"Yeah like what's wrong with my face!"

"Well about that," Tsunade coughed a bit. "We're still going through the data but so far we have a good working theory as to what Orochimaru was up to. The previous clones were all deformed that we found, this was from the Nine-Tails chakra being put into them. Their bodies couldn't handle it and they started to deform and degenerate. From the research notes we managed to get through, I believe he found a way around this."

Looking at Minato now she went on, "That was you."

"Me, why me?" Minato asked.

"When you two were found your tanks were linked, we didn't know why until now." She explained further. "Apparently he felt that since Naruto's cells were already used to that kind of chakra he could use those cells as a type of control. Using a clone of Naruto, he sent the chakra into his tank first and then it was slowly put into another. You two were the first experiment to see if he could make a stable clone with that chakra to enhance it."

Tsunade sighed at the whole project it all just rubbed her the wrong way both ethically and professionally as a medic. "If he succeeded he would use the same process but on a large scale. There were many different clones found from various ninja of this village and from others we believe. He was going to create a clone army of pseudo-jinchuriki."

"Pseudo-jinchuriki?" Both clones asked in unison.

Sakura nodded her head, "While we were at the training field, Naruto somehow accidentally triggered that other chakra inside of you. Both of you went out of control and attacked us both."

"Oh...sorry about that," Minato felt bad about it even though he didn't remember a thing. It kind of reminded him of when he fought Haku that one time, well Naruto did, he just had the memories after all. There was a few moments that he couldn't remember only this felt worse than that time.

"So why is my face like this?" Sakurai asked.

"Well that might be because of you activating that chakra," Tsunade told her. "I read a report about the Gold and Silver brothers once having been in the Kyubi's stomach for a few weeks. They ate the chakra meat stomach to survive and when it finally threw them up they had the same markings." She didn't go into that this was a recent report from the war, that would take a long time to explain.

"We had a Hyuga nurse do a more in depth look into your chakra coils," Sakura jumped in. "They are slightly larger than normal and also she noticed that your chakra is intermixed with a different kind she had never seen before. I think we all know what kind now."

"So I'm stuck looking like this?" Sakurai groaned.

"I think you look super cute," Minato said trying to cheer her up, it didn't seem to work.

"Is it okay if they leave now?" Sakura asked Tsunade. "We can check them up later but I think the worst is over with."

She also thought that they really didn't want to stay here anymore than they had to, this was where they woke up and their entire world had started to come down on them. It wasn't the most comforting atmosphere that was for sure. Tsunade seemed to be thinking the same lines and figured they could put off a check up until tomorrow. She told Sakura to take them home while they went over some of the results that were still waiting on. The danger seemed to pass but did warn them that if they felt anything odd then they were to come right back here instantly just in case.

Sakura led them down the halls and found Naruto waiting in the lobby of the hospital. Sakura had to smile, he had been here the entire time waiting to see what was happening. She knew that he most likely blamed himself for what happened, she told him that there was no way he could have known about the Fox's chakra in them and that accidentally releasing it was unavoidable. Honestly sometimes he seemed to take things really hard when he felt it was his fault.

Naruto came up and then stopped as he looked at Sakurai's face.

"Huh, what happened to her-" Sakura gave him a quickly sharp look as he stopped the question. "Uh...well...it looks nice." He offered thinking of the first thing he could come up with seeing the young girl's face which didn't look happy about it.

"That's what I told her," Minato supplied.

"Come on let's get them home," Sakura sighed knowing that it was something Sakurai would have to get used to it. Not only that but their parents, everyone was getting used to the young girl living with them but now this was going to be a little more to get used to. Not that Sakura thought it would be a problem but it was a bit odd seeing her younger face with Naruto's whiskers.

As they exited the building they saw a familiar face walking up, the pale teen Sai was someone that was kind of hard to miss with his skin color and black clothing which only helped to make it stand out. He was holding his wrist as Sakura could tell it looked like a sprain.

"What happened Sai?" Naruto asked first seeing their teammate.

He gave his usual smile the one that didn't seem to really reach his face. He had been trying for the past year to get back in touch with his emotions and he had made some headway, but he still couldn't get the hang of a natural smile.

"I was training with some blades but I was also doing a lot of drawing lately, I think I overdid it with my wrist," He then looked at the two younger versions there. He took a moment and with a deadpan serious expression on his face asked them, "Did you and Sakura have a secret pair of kids that I never knew about?"

"WHAT!" All four of them yelled out.

"Well they look like you and I know how Naruto cares for Sakura, and she has shown to be one of the few females that seem close to Naruto, plus you can't miss the family resemblance either."

Sakura grabbed him by his shirt blushing along with everyone else although she did have an angry look in her face. "These are not our kids, we've not even old enough to be their parents!"

Sai was sweating a bit knowing full well the fury of Sakura's punches at times. "Sorry, I read that making jokes with friends was a good way to form bonds."

"Again with those self-help books," Sakura muttered as she let go of him.

"You really should ask more people for advice and less from those books you keep getting," Naruto told him with a groan. Sometimes those books he got only got him into more trouble at times.

"Man who is this weirdo?" Minato asked out loud looking at the older pale boy with a suspicious look on his face.

"I don't know but I don't think I like him," Sakurai told him.

"Oh yeah you wouldn't have known about him," Naruto chuckled. "This is Sai, he's our new teammate he joined over a year ago. He's a little odd but he's okay once you get to know him plus he's kind takes some getting used to."

"New teammate?" Minato looked at the boy who Sakura was now looking at his wrist. Well the guy kind of did remind of him of Sasuke but there wasn't any of that arrogance that he could see. Although there was a kind of oddness about him like he was playing a part or something instead of acting as himself.

Sakurai also felt odd about this, from her memories Sasuke was the third part of the team but they kept telling her that he was no longer around. Did they just replace him just like that? It didn't seem possible but she watched Naruto explain everything as Sakura started to heal Sai's wrist. The interaction was of a group that was very familiar with each other. She frowned then and noticed that Minato was doing the same. Sakurai could tell that he was thinking the same thing about how it felt to suddenly know that Sasuke had been replaced.

"There that should fix it," Sakura said as Sai tested his wrist. "Now go easy on it for the next couple of days while your body fully heals up. That means no training with that wrist and take it easy with the drawings because you over stressed your wrist from using it too much."

"Thank you I'll remember that," He looked at the two younger ninja and tried out his smile on them. "It was nice to meet you."

"Uh yeah you too," Minato said to the older boy. He was a bit strange but at least he was nicer than Sasuke had been. He remembered that boy never really said hi to them when they got together for training or missions. Sai said his goodbyes as he went home saying he had a new book to read up on. Sakura and Naruto both worried looks wondering what he was going to read about now before they turned back to the clones.

"So how about we go home?" Sakura asked her younger clone.

"Actually could we not go home just yet?" Sakurai unconsciously felt her hand rubbing her cheek. "I just don't want to go there just yet."

Sakura could see that the girl wanted to get used to her new look, it had to be hard to suddenly have a physical change that looked to be permanent. She tried to put herself in her place and thought of how she wouldn't want to explain everything to her parents just yet.

"Well you can come by our place for a bit if you want?" Naruto asked them. "I mean if you're not feeling up to it."

"Okay," Sakurai shrugged she just didn't want to go through the whole explanation to the rest of the new family. She already felt like a bit of a freak already being a clone, finding out that she was created to be a weapon and had demonic chakra flowing in her veins was kind of a bit much. Plus people already looked at her strangely, now they would even more so and she just wanted to go somewhere quiet and just try and let this all sink in.

Minato looked at her a little worried he was used to this kind of thing. He had memories of finding out about a demon inside of himself, sure when he figured out that the Fox wasn't in him anymore he actually felt relief. He figured that people would stop looking at him with either hate or distain. Sure people did seem a little unsure on how to treat him but at least he never got any of those cold looks anymore. As they walked back to the new apartment he kept trying to think of something to say to her, he didn't like seeing her so down.

"Hey don't worry about it," Minato tried to tell her. "I mean we're in the same boat right? Plus I know how it feels to have something inside of you that you can't control."

Sakurai was about to have a slightly angry retort but stopped herself when she realised that he did, more so than her. Looking at Naruto in front of her who was walking next to Sakura she wondered what it was like growing up knowing about a demon inside of you. At least it was just the chakra and not a full on Tailed Beast, she didn't think she could handle something like that at the moment.

"Hey it's not so bad," Minato told her as she gave him a doubtful look. "I mean maybe we can use it for something? I remember it how the Fox could heal so maybe we got that too?"

Sakurai hadn't thought of any upsides to any of this before thinking on it she hadn't even tried any real training to see what her skills were like. Did she have more stamina or something like that or was she just like how she remembered being? It certainly gave her something new to think about which was thankful for.

Sakura had noticed the exchanged and smiled a little as she quietly talked to Naruto. "That was kind of sweet of him trying to cheer her up like that."

"Well of course she's important to him," Naruto told her then he kind of blushed a bit as he said the next part. "If we were in the same spot I'd do the same because Sakura-chan means a lot to me too."

Sakura could feel her face warming up as she quickly looked away.

'_Damn it why did he have to say something like that? It's embarrassing although it was also kind of sweet in his own way.'_

She knew how Naruto felt about her, Sai had pretty much said as much to her face so she had to face the fact what his feelings were. The truth was that she just didn't know how she felt about Naruto, she did wish she hadn't done that so called 'confession' to him, he deserved an honest one not something she had to say just to make him safe. But that was the truth of it, she wanted him safe he did mean a lot to her. This past year after the war had been hard on everyone but he had always been there for her and she had been there for him.

He was her best friend (male friend that is) so she didn't want to do anything to ruin that. Casting a quick look to her right she looked at Naruto. He had grown a lot since those academy days he was a bit more responsible and mature now and yet still had that child like charm at times. She hadn't seen him with any other girl so she hoped he wasn't putting his life off for her sake, she didn't want him to not be happy because he was waiting for her.

He deserved to be happy after everything he had gone through and she wanted him to be happy. That's why she had never tired to date him she wanted to make sure she liked him in that way. He deserved to have a girlfriend that liked him back just as much as he liked her. Although it wasn't like she had much in the way of a love life she mentally sighed to herself. Well at any rate they were both still young and had time, right now she had a 'little sister' to help settle into things.

Eventually they made it to Naruto and Minato's apartment as Naruto opened the door for them. Sakura looked around as usual to make sure he had been trying to keep the place clean. Honestly when he got distracted he forgot to clean up and things went to hell. She still shivered remembering that time she caught a damn cockroach walking around the place.

So far it seemed okay, she was a bit worried since Minato was a younger Naruto and that was before she had been trying to put some sense of being tidy into Naruto.

"Make yourselves at home," Naruto grinned at them as he unzipped his top and placed it on a hook by the door. Minato did the same with his jump suit and both girls had to admit that the two of them looked so much alike as they moved nearly in synch with each other.

"So you started to settle in Minato?" Sakura asked the young man.

"Yeah, it's different though," Minato looked around the place. "It is nicer than the old place but it still feels strange."

"I know what you mean," Naruto sighed and looked around. The old place had been his home for his entire life it was hard to let it go. "It took me a few months to get used to this place. Sometimes when I got up I didn't even know where I was."

"We all threw him a house warming party as well," Sakura commented.

Naruto laughed a bit remembering that. "Yeah that was fun, I think we had one for nearly everyone that week since the war was over and everyone had new homes."

"Oh god I was so tired after that," Sakura sat down on the couch remembering how tiring it was. "I think everyone just wanted a reason to celebrate and blow off steam."

"Yeah but it was fun," Naruto then thought about something. "Hey there's an idea. How about we throw a little party for Minato and Sakurai and invite everyone? That way they can meet everyone and get to know them?"

Sakura blinked as it sounded like a good idea. "You know that might work, maybe that BBQ place that opened a few weeks back? It's got that huge party room where everyone could fit in."

"You really don't have to do that," Sakurai put in as she didn't feel comfortable being the center of attention.

"Don't worry about it Sakurai-chan," Minato told her smiling. "I think it sounds like fun and besides we won't have to pay for anything I bet. Come on I want to show you my room, well I say room but it needs some work."

Sakurai shrugged as Sakura and Naruto started to make plans. She followed him into a decent size room although there wasn't much here. There was a futon on the floor but it was still unrolled and not even made. The bags from their shopping trip where still set in a corner but there at least was a small dresser for the room.

"Uh...well...the color is nice," She really didn't have much to say then again her room was the old guest room that she was given. Even if it wasn't to her personal taste it had more in it than this.

"Yeah I know it's kind of a work in progress," Minato scratched the back of his head. "But I got a bunch of plans. I'll have a desk over there, then I want some things to put on the wall I'm not sure what but I'll know it when I see it. Maybe a bed although the futon is kind of nice but with a bed I can put stuff under it, well I guess I'll keep trying this out and figure it out later."

"Man I can't wait to go on missions and start earning money again I don't like asking Naruto for cash all the time since I know how hard it is to not over spend."

Sakurai hadn't thought about how Naruto lived as a kid, he had no parents so it made sense that he would have to learn how to manage money at a young age. There was a lot she never knew then again she only had the memories of someone that never bothered to ask. It was strange sense of disassociation in that moment, as she could clearly remember those times but now was starting to think of it as seeing the life through the eyes of someone else.

She shook her head not wanting to think about that.

"Hey Sakurai," Minato grinned at her. "You want to check out Naruto's room? I haven't looked much in there and I'm curious what kind of things he's got in there."

She was about to say that they shouldn't but she was curious she hadn't even seen in Sakura's room and even since she woke up and found out the truth, she was curious how things had turned out. So it wasn't long until both young ninja snuck into Naruto's room. It was a lot fuller of things than Minato's but that was to be expected. Both started looking around, Minato's eye saw a book that seemed to be next to the bed. It looked well worn and might have been read a few times.

That got his interest because he couldn't remember Naruto having an interest in books before. He looked at the title and it was kind of a weird one. "Tale of the Gutsy Ninja, what's that supposed to be about?"

Sakurai saw a few magazines and started to look through them, a few ninja ones but she frowned when she found a special edition that had the words Kunoichi swimsuit edition on it. That was something she was wondering if she should show Sakura. It seemed that Naruto was still a bit of a pervert at times like with that stupid jutsu of his with the naked woman. Then she noticed a few photos in frames, the frames looked fairly new but the photos looked a bit rough. Some had some torn edges, most likely that they had been salvaged from when the village had been attacked from that Pain person.

She then noticed the one of Team 7, during those genin days with everyone there and Kakashi in the back. It seemed to her that the picture had only been taken a few months back but years had passed since then. She took the photo and looked to Minato who seemed to be reading the book.

"Hey Minato, don't you think it's time we found out what happened to Sasuke-kun?"

Minato looked up and saw the picture she was holding, he put down the book and nodded seriously. "Yeah I want to know what happened and why everyone seems to avoid it."

**Next up Chapter 9: Sasuke's Fate**

**Yeah I'm finally getting to this, figured I couldn't put it off and also I'm going to try something a bit different with his fate in this.**


	9. Sasuke's Fate

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 9: Sasuke's Fate**

Naruto was getting into planning out the party with Sakura it felt nice talking about something like this. They talked about who should come and when they should do it, it was nice just sitting here talking with her about something normal like this. It hadn't been an easy year after the war, there was a lot of healing all over the place. Lots of people had died and everything had to be rebuilt, everyone had to pitch in plus for the two of them it had been stressful at times. But they had always been there for the other and now that things have calmed down they could finally relax.

He just liked to watch her at times he just found that he liked to hear her voice it didn't matter what she said he just liked hearing it. There were a lot of things he liked about her, her green eyes were very pretty and he liked her pink hair on her it really suit her. Plus there were other things, like how serious she got when she tried to help someone or save their lives. She put everything into her medical skills and it always left him amazed at her.

Still even though their friendship was very close he couldn't help but want more, to him there just wasn't anyone else than Sakura. You couldn't explain why a person fell in love but he knew that he loved her so much that it hurt at times. Of course he still asked her out sometimes and sometimes she could go out for ramen with him, of course he had to pay but that was a small price if only it meant he could spent time alone with her.

"Naruto are you listening to me?" Sakura asked him seeing him space out.

"Huh? Oh sorry Sakura-chan," He said sheepishly.

She huffed at him, "Honestly what were you thinking about?"

For a moment he wanted to say that he was thinking about her but that might spoil the mood, he was thinking of the usual things he could reply to when thankfully Minato and Sakurai walked into the room. He noticed the serious looks on their faces as both of them came in front of them. Naruto shared a confused look with Sakura before both teens looked at the two younger ones.

"Uh...what's up?" Naruto asked.

"I know there's a lot we need to catch up on," Sakurai started to speak up first. "I know you've been giving us time to adjust but I think there is something that we need to know."

"What the hell happened to Sasuke," Minato asked bluntly with his arms crossed. "You guys keep acting weird when he's brought up so what gives?"

Naruto knew it was coming but he wasn't sure how they would handle things, they still remembered him as the boy that had been on their team that had been one of them. They didn't have the memories of after the chunin exams or what came next. Naruto looked to Sakura knowing how hard it was for her but she only closed her eyes and nodded. Sakura didn't bring up Sasuke much anymore and this would be the first time they talked about him for months.

Naruto sighed and told them to sit down this would take some time to explain. He knew this would be bad for both of them but maybe it was time to finally talk about it. So he decided to start things off as well.

"I guess it all really started after the Chunin Exams, things were kind of odd between us after that. He seemed to get more and more distant he even challenged me to a fight and we kind of ended up using out best jutsu. Kakashi-sensei got in the way and stopped us both before we did something we would have regretted. But it didn't end there, no one is sure how it happened but Orochimaru got in touch with him."

He could see the clones stiffen slightly from that, Orochimaru was the person that made them after all.

"He promised Sasuke power to beat his brother and would later become a new host."

"Wait host for what?" Sakurai asked him.

Naruto went on to explain how Orochimaru lived by stealing other bodies for himself. Then he went into how Sasuke left the village, at first Sakurai didn't want to believe it but Sakura confirmed it.

"Believe me I was there when he left," Sakura told the younger girl remembering how hard it had been. "I begged him not to go, I even threatened to scream but it didn't do any good." Her face sadden remembering that day. For years she had wondered if only she had done something different or had been strong enough to stop him things could have changed. It took her a long time to get over that moment as well.

"He knocked me out and left we sent others after him but everyone got so hurt," her fists tightened remembering reading the injury reports, how Choji had nearly died and above all how horrible Naruto had looked in his hospital bed covered in bandages. He had acted like it meant nothing but she knew that Sasuke had done that to him. She had been so angry with Sasuke for that, doing that to their own teammate.

"We never saw him again until three years later," Sakura just went on telling them the whole story. In a way it was like she was telling the old her, the one that had seen the world in a more innocent way. Sakura had grown a lot since that time and in a way she was putting old demons to rest. She explained the training they went, when they first found Sasuke and how they lost him. She went into how they missed the battle with Itachi and Sasuke, which led into the ninja war and how she had even tried to kill Sasuke but couldn't go through with it.

Seeing the horrified looks on the two young people in front of her she could tell that they couldn't believe she had tried that. But they had to understand it all, that had been the hardest thing she had ever tried to do and yet in the end she couldn't have gone through with it. She had just kept seeing the old Sasuke in her mind as her kunai had been in her hands. She told how Sasuke took her weapon and tried to kill her before Naruto showed up to save her.

She felt drained as Naruto took over as the two clones were stunned silent as they listened in on everything.

"So what happened then?" Minato finally asked as they got to the end of the story about the war and everything.

"Well Sasuke and I met up and we had our last fight." Naruto explained to them.

"So...you won right?" Minato asked him wondering after all this time who was stronger.

**-Flash Back-**

On an unknown battlefield two young men lay on the ground, both looking battered and warn torn. Both Sasuke and Naruto were breathing hard as a light rain came down on them. Neither of them could move and it had been a good fight. They had gone all out between them and yet neither of them ended up with the upper hand. By the end of things they had both ran out of chakra so the fight had ended up to being with just their fists.

By the end they had both hit each other in the face and landed on their backs. For the longest time neither of them said or moved as the cold rain pelted their bodies.

"Hey can you move?" Naruto finally asked.

Sasuke sighed, "No."

"Good...me either," Naruto grinned. "Hey was it raining that day we fought? I thought it did but I couldn't remember."

"By the end," Sasuke told him remembering the Valley of the End fight. "Why do you even bother trying?"

"All this time and you still have to ask that?" Naruto frowned. "I told you before, we're team and brothers. Plus I made a promise to get you back to the village and I always keep my promises."

Sasuke closed his eyes and actually broke a small smile, "After all these years you still are so simple minded."

"Hey I kicked your ass!"

"What? You hit the ground first so it's my win!"

"The hell! I didn't hit first!"

"Yes you did I saw it and my eyes are better than yours."

"That's total crap!" Naruto tired to get up but only grunted in pain and fell back down. Both manage to turn their heads to face the other and for some strange reason, all the years, all the fights, after everything there they were just looking at each other. Covered in dirt, some blood, mud, wet from the rain, they both were pretty sorry sights. So after it all they just couldn't help it, even to this day they might not ever be able to explain it. They just laughed, at each other, at how everything turned out, who could say.

Both were silent for a long time before Sasuke spoke up, "Okay we'll call it a tie."

Naruto smiled at that as it was a big thing for Sasuke to admit. Although he wasn't sure something had changed in the other boy since their last meeting when he said that the next fight would be the last one. He hadn't had as dark a feeling about him as he had in that fight. But they had fought, Naruto did everything he could to get his feelings across to Sasuke. For a moment there near the end he felt that he had managed to do it, he had managed to reach Sasuke and he hoped he had.

"You're still an idiot you know." Sasuke told him.

"And you're still a bastard," Naruto said right back as both young men smiled slightly.

"So...how long will it take for them to find us?" Sasuke asked looking up at the dark sky.

Naruto frowned at that, "I don't know but I hope it's soon, I don't like where some of the mud is going through my clothing."

**-Present-**

"We got found and taken right to the hospital after all that," Naruto grinned scratching the back of his head.

"It's not funny Naruto, you both were really hurt," Sakura hated seeing them hurt like that not only that she had been the one that had to help put them both back together again. She had been seriously worried that they might have killed each other but her faith in Naruto proved to win out. Still she had berated him for taking things so far and scaring her like that.

"Honestly what happens when I'm not there to help you out?" She asked him seriously.

"But I know that Sakura-chan will always be there for me so I never have to worry. I got complete faith in Sakura-chan." He smiled at her.

Sakura was surprise to hear that from him and felt slightly touched at how sincere he was with it. She shifted slightly in her seat not sure if she was feeling uncomfortable about what he said or the feelings it started to make her feel.

"So if you brought him back what happened?" Sakurai asked with a little confusion on why he didn't seem to be in the village.

"He escaped and left," Sakura said in a sad tone. "It had been in the middle of the night, we're not sure how he was able to pull it off but by the time the morning shift came in we found the ANBU guards unconscious. He was long gone by the time the alarm went out but he did leave a few messages behind."

Naruto got up at that point going to a drawer. He looked through it and pulled out the note he had kept and showed it to the two young clones. "Sakura-chan got one too but it's about the same."

They read the note together.

_Naruto if you're reading this then you'll notice that I'm gone, don't follow me. You know as much as I do that I can't stay here, there's too much bad blood and let's face it. The Hokage would be under pressure to put me on trail and I'm guilty. I did leave the village, I joined Orochimaru and Akatsuki, there's no way around it. If I stayed you would have tried to do something stupid, as usual of course._

_So I left, I need to leave Naruto I want you to understand that. _

_All my life it's been shaped by others, I tried to live up to my brother and my father's expectations, then I lived for revenge as Itachi-niisan put me on that path. He manipulated me into an avengers hoping that I would be a hero. When I learned the truth, Tobi or whatever his name was, used my pain to make me his weapon of revenge. It just seems that all my life I've been doing things because it was through the manipulations of others. I can't put all the blame on that, I choose it after all._

_Laying here in the hospital has allowed me time to think and honestly I don't know who I am. Without revenge who am I? I need to know that Naruto, I need to leave and find myself and keep everyone out of trouble. Maybe it's also a way to avoid punishment, I won't lie, I don't mind that part. But please just let me go, I need to understand my place in life._

_So I'm going to sneak out now, I'm going somewhere very far away, past the known lands so even I won't know where I'm going. Maybe one day I'll return but I don't know. Maybe one day the Uchiha clan will return home to Konoha changed. If I do intend to revive the clan I want to remake it so that it's no longer burdened by hatred but follows the Senju way. _

_Until that day goodbye._

_Your brother, Sasuke._

Both clones read the note a few times before dropping it both looking slightly at a loss for words.

"I wanted to go and get him despite the stupid note," Naruto muttered crossing his arms and pouting slightly.

"I stopped him though," Sakura said to the others. "We should respect his choice, he was brought home but he needed to leave again and I want him to be happy. I want him to find himself, but we'll keep a light on for him in case he ever wants to come home again."

But she wouldn't hold her breath chances were they would never see him again. It took her months to come to peace with that. But after she came to peace with it she began to realise how this is what Sasuke needed the most. She had read her own letter over and over again and in the end she came to the conclusion that Sasuke needed to find himself and find out who he was. He couldn't do that here, there was just too much here that would confuse him.

It hurt to let him go but eventually she had let him go thankfully her family, friends and especially Naruto had been there to help. Both she and Naruto felt a sense of loss, after everything they only managed to get Sasuke back for him to leave them again. There were times she had been really angry about that too but even that passed eventually.

"I think we all lived in the past for too long," Sakura spoke up to everyone. "We've all had to carry so much that we couldn't change and let the past hold us back." She looked at Naruto and gave him a reassuring small smile. "I think it's time for us to not be shackled by the past, we can remember it but I think it's time for the future."

She looked at the clones now, "I don't know if he'll ever come back but I do hope that wherever he is, he's finding himself and finds his own path, his own nindo."

Naruto hadn't thought about it like that before, sure he had been really pissed and he had nearly promised Sakura to find him again but she had stopped him. Now looking at it, he couldn't force Sasuke into a path that he didn't want to take. Sasuke might just have to find his own way of the ninja, something that Naruto himself had found long ago and as she grew he changed or added more to it. Such as not letting hate rule himself or the world, which was turning out nice after the war.

Sakura noticed how late it had gotten, "I think we should go home now, we still have to explain everything to mom and dad now Sakurai. Plus it's getting late and we don't want to worry them."

"Alright," Sakurai looked like all the strength had been taken out of her. Minato didn't look much better either as he was still sitting on his own strangely quiet. Sakura gave a slightly worried look to Naruto who nodded as he went over to the boy. This was a lot to dump on them and it would be a lot to process they had the benefit of going through it and time to take it all in.

Sakura left with Sakurai beside her the young girl at least had her mind taken off the new markings on her face so maybe that was a plus, she hoped at least. It was a quiet walk home as Sakura knew she would have to explain Sakurai's new look to her parents as well.

"What do you think happened to him?" Sakurai said suddenly nearly making Sakura jump.

The older girl thought about it, "I don't know but wherever he is I just hope for the best."

**-Elsewhere in the World-**

Somewhere past the known boundaries of the known ninja world, past the dessert of the country of Wind, past the known trade routes, into a small village out in the middle of nowhere where a small fishing village was nestled. It was here that a young dark haired man after half a year of wondering had made his home. The young man had only been here to rest but when pirates had attacked (something he later found out happened a bit in this area as it was kind of lawless) he had defended the place.

At first he had been meaning to just leave but the village had come out to thank him, the next thing he knew he was given food and a place to rest. He promised only to spend a few days, which then a bandit group showed up and when he learned about how troubled this area was. There was no real protection and ninjas were very few in this part of the world apparently. Instead of villages ninjas worked directly for a local lord.

So that's how days turned into weeks, which turned into months which turned into half a year.

"Ryu get that rope set tight," an old man in a fishing boat told a young dark haired man.

Currently the two were on one of the docks of the village having returned from a fishing trip. There was a net full of fish that would be sold today. The older man cracked his back he had silver hair with a deep tan from working outside for decades. His skin slightly leathery but looked strong like an ox but was grinning enjoying the life of a fisherman.

"I've been doing this for months now," the young man known as Ryu told him slightly annoyed.

The big man only laughed, "You can't be lax when you live by the sea, you can never know what will happen. But I have to admit you're a quick learner."

The man was Genji Kamogawa one of the best fishermen of the village, he had taken a shine to the young man having him help out with the fishing now and again was a good way to get to know the boy. Which was hard, he had lived here for six month and yet still he didn't know much. Only that the boy had a past that he didn't want to talk about. He wouldn't push him, the boy had been here protecting the village after all.

"So tell me something you given thought to help teaching some of the younger ones your skills?"

"I'm not sure I would be a good teacher for that," the boy said a little uncomfortable.

Genji nodded, "True but the village looks up to you and you can't protect us forever. Some of us will have to learn how to defend ourselves but that's up to you. Oh, I see my beautiful daughter is coming to welcome us back." He grinned as a dark haired young woman walked up to them with a small basket.

"Father did you have a good trip?"

"Ah Kimi-chan, you know it with Ryu here it gets easier and easier but then again I know you came to see him as well." He chuckled.

"Father!" Kimi blushed as she saw that Ryu was looking at her. She shyly looked away and then glared at her father still laughing.

"Ah young love," He started up before a piece of bread that she was bringing them in her basket was thrown into his face with a very angry and embarrassed looking daughter. She walked up to him angrily berating him.

While all this was going on Ryu just looked on with a small smile on his face remembering something from long ago.

After a hard day helping out the young man went to his small and modest single floor home. It wasn't much but he didn't need much. For some reason he was feeling a little nostalgic as pulled out a small box from his dresser and sat on his bed while in his bedroom. He opened it as he pulled out a few items, there were a few scrolls there but he pulled out an old photo of himself of his younger days. Then he pulled out an old forehead protector with the Leaf symbol on it.

The young man had one day been Sasuke Uchiha but now he went by a new name, he doubted that any hunter ninja were on his trail, it had been nearly a year since he had left the known nations but he was still careful. It had been a long journey and he hadn't stopped until after six months on the road when he found this little village. When he got here the place had trouble with bandits and so he had cleaned up the problem, the people wanted him to stay and honestly he was tired of the endless wondering. He had no destination in mind when he left only to get away from everything.

He needed time to find out who he was, for too long he had let others shape his life and he wanted to find out who he really was. This place had helped, he liked the people here he had no past here, no one that knew him as Sasuke Uchiha. In fact sometimes he found it hard to remember himself as 'Sasuke' because he was 'Ryu' for so long. He liked being this new person, there was no longer any pressure to do what others wanted, avenger the clan, kill his brother, kill the Leaf.

He liked being the protector of this village and he liked the life he had. For the first time he was starting to wonder if he would finally find some peace in his life. Of course sometimes his mind would wonder to the Leaf village and to his old team. He would wonder what had happened or was happening to them but he wasn't ready to even think about going back. If he never could return in person then maybe his descendants would one day return, he would have to make sure what he was holding survived. It would be passed on as would the story of the fall of the Uchiha clan and how hatred had destroyed it.

He thought about the old man and his daughter Kimi, she was really nice and he found himself actually noticing her. If he did decide to take a wife he would have to come clean he only hoped when that happened they would still accept him. Putting everything back he looked out the window to the ocean as the sun was going down the salty sea breeze came in as he breathed it in.

"Not today Naruto but one day the Uchiha will return home and they'll be better for it," He told the wind.

**Next up Chapter 10: Training and Partying**

**Yep I wanted to try something new with Sasuke's ultimate fate and I felt this was the only real way to not only redeem himself but his clan. For him to start it all over and rebuilt it in another way. Plus I had this idea before he started to question himself in the manga so I think this actually could work out.**


	10. Training and Partying

**AN: I mean to put this out sooner but I got sick (still am with a cold) and so it slowed down all my writing projects.**

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 10: Training and Partying**

It was early morning in Konoha but that wasn't stopping two young blonde boys, one was Naruto Uzumaki and the other was a younger thirteen looking version of him that was now named Minato Uzumaki. Both boys were training in the area where they had before now, Minato wanted to get back into the shape of things as Naruto helped the boy out with forms and to improve on little things. Some of the things were how to hold a kunai, tricks on how to judge where to thrown the weapons and certain holes in his skills.

For Naruto it was kind of nice teaching someone like this as it reminded him of his days with Jiraiya. Plus Minato eagerly learned anything and took all his advice to heart. Naruto had a large smile as he watched one of his clones fight Minato. He was getting an outside look of how Minato fought, for a moment he couldn't believe that this had been his skill in fighting. He had come a long way all those years ago but that only meant that Minato had a lot of time to catch up. Plus given that he knew how Minato thought, it was easy for Naruto to explain things that the boy would understand.

Minato liked it, he always wanted someone that would really train him. Sure he had memories of Kakashi who did train the entire team but this was a more personal level of training. So far the morning had been very good and he was learning a lot. Earlier Naruto had him do basic warm up and then had him go up the tree a few times. It took a little getting used to, he had the memories of tree climbing but his body wasn't used to it. Eventually he got the hang of it and then the real fun started to kick off.

After an hour of sparing the real Naruto called an end to it as he dismissed the clone. Minato sat down feeling his limbs burning but he was smiling despite it. It was a good workout and after everything it was also great just getting out and doing something familiar.

"So why did you use a shadow clone to spar with me?" Minato asked him.

"Well this way I can get a view from two angles," Naruto explained but then saw the confused look on the boy's face. It took a moment for him to realize that he didn't know the full effect of the shadow clone jutsu. "Can you make a shadow clone?"

"I should," Minato made the hand seals and found three clones come into existence. He had been going for just one but it turned out he might have used a little too much chakra into it.

"No worries I had the same issue," Naruto walked up and simply popped two of the clones on the head. He made one clone of himself. "Now these two will go off and just concentrate."

Minato watched the two shadow clones walk off wondering what was going on. He sat there waiting wondering why he had to wait here when suddenly something came into his mind. He saw Naruto and himself in the forest as they played several rounds of rock-paper-scissor to see who treated who to a first round of ramen.

"Ha! I won!" Minato pointed at a scowling Naruto who was glad that the bet hadn't been for the whole meal. Then Minato froze for a moment as the realization hit him. "How the hell did I know that?"

Naruto explained the full use of the shadow clone jutsu and how information was shared he told him how he had trained with this to learn his wind nature in order to complete the rasengan training. Minato had never known about that, he couldn't wait to start adding that skill into his training into the future. He had a lot of catching up to do in his mind he had seen some of what Naruto was able to do so there was a lot of stuff he wanted to learn and see if he could be a great ninja like him.

It was odd, now he had someone to not only teach him but also a new goal to get to. It was something he had been thinking about, at first he thought about going for the title of Hokage but Naruto was a lot closer to that goal than he was. Plus technically that was Naruto's dream, he didn't want to be 'just the clone' all his life. He wanted to stand out, to be his own person although how exactly he was going to do that, he had no idea at the moment.

"Well this certainly brings back a lot of memories for me," a very familiar voice was heard above them. Both of them looked up to see a familiar silver haired and masked ninja.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Both boys shouted out together.

"Yo," He raised his hand with his usual eye smile.

"When did you get back?" Naruto had been hoping to catch the man by surprise with the clones, he guessed he would have to rethink a surprise.

"Just now," He looked at Minato and it was true the boy looked so much like Naruto at that age. Back when the world was a bit more dangerous but also more innocent at least for him. "I was making a report on my mission when I ran into Shizune and she filled me in on things. So you're Minato I take it, that's a good name."

Kakashi did like the name for the boy in a way it was very fitting as well almost like the Fourth's legacy was increased in the boy.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei," the boy grinned up at him. "Man you haven't changed a bit, you look exactly the same."

Naruto snickered at that as it was true the man didn't seem to change at all from the day they first met. He kept the same uniform on and hadn't changed anything, not his hair or any of his traits like his reading material. You'd think he would have memorized the books by this point.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei we're all going to a barbeque shop later on you want to come too?" Naruto asked his sensei. "Everyone is going today you want to come too?"

He scratched the back of his head, "Sorry I'd like to but I already made plans plus this seems like something for the younger crowd. But I don't see why I can't spend some time with the two of you now if you want." He jumped down from the branch as he landed effortlessly.

"You mean you'll train with us?" Minato asked excited to be getting training from Kakashi. He knew it was mainly from Naruto's memories in his head but it also seemed like yesterday when this man had been training them.

"Sure I don't see why not," Kakashi chuckled remembering that excited side of Naruto's personality that he hadn't seen as often these years in the actual Naruto. Maybe because there really wasn't much else he could teach Naruto given that the young man had moved past him in the last war. He was exceptionally proud of how Naruto turned out and he felt that his parents would be proud of their son. Looking at the young Minato here Kakashi could see all that old potential in the boy as well.

He never thought he would be able to see another 'Naruto' in his lifetime but he got the feeling this young boy had what it took to be something special in his own rights.

"Awesome!" Minato shouted out with a jump in the air.

"Man was I like that at his age?" Naruto muttered with a sweat drop.

"Of course in fact I think you were worst sometimes," Kakashi said deadpanned. Naruto jerked like he got hit by that as his shoulders slumped.

"That was harsh Kakashi-sensei," He told him with a slight pout.

Kakashi just smiled at him, "The truth sometimes hurts but you've grown a lot since then so be proud of who you became. Now then, Minato, let's see what you got."

Minato grinned as he formed a familiar hand seal and suddenly a dozen new Minatos appeared as one of them took the lead stepping forward. "Get ready Kakashi-sensei because here we come!"

**-Later, Barbeque Shop-**

Sakura led the way to the place where they had set everything up. It was nice to just hang out with everyone now and again. It was strange as a young girl she had been alone a lot but now she had a close circle of friends that she could count on. They would give their lives for each other and she felt the same, each and everyone one of them was someone she didn't want to lose. Looking at the young pink haired girl next to her it was nice to see that Sakurai seemed a bit better than she had last night.

Although it had been a long explanation with their parents for the girl's new look and if Sakura had to guess Sakurai was a little sensitive about the markings. It couldn't be easy to suddenly have permanent marks on your face. Sakura had wondered why the marks had only shown up until now, the best theory she had was that the accidental activation of the Kyuubi chakra inside of her body was the result of it. Minato was a clone of Naruto whose cells were already used to that kind of chakra.

Although she couldn't be sure without looking at the equipment and notes she figured that Minato had been infused first with the other chakra and then it had been slowly seeped into Sakurai's body as they both matured. If Orochimaru had lived long enough he could have developed a whole army of clones with Kyuubi chakra enhancements. That was a horrible thought to think what they could have faced one day. She had seen enough things form the war trying to patch up ninja from battles, their cries of pain and the blood covering them and herself at the really bad injuries.

She shook her head she didn't want to think about that stuff.

"Are you okay?" Sakurai asked seeing Sakura look away and then seemed to have a sad look on her face for a split second.

"I'm fine," Sakura forced a smile pushing away the memories. "Just sometimes I remember some unpleasant memories."

Sakurai wasn't sure what she thought of that at first she was wondering if Sakura was thinking about Sasuke or could it be something else? Sakurai didn't want to press the issue she was having a hard enough time just adjusting to everything. She suddenly heard two familiar voices calling out her and Sakura's name giving the young girl something else to focus on. She looked to see Naruto and Minato walking up to them waving and with them was Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei when did you get back?" Sakura was pleased to see her team leader.

"Just got back today," He replied and looked to Sakurai. "So you're Sakurai nice to meet you."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei."

"Hey Sakurai-chan, I actually got in some training with Kakashi-sensei it was fun," Minato grinned.

"It was certainly nostalgic," Kakashi nodded. "Maybe next time I could get both you and Sakurai together I'm interested to see how you both handle yourselves."

"Kakashi-sensei do you want to join us for lunch?" Sakura asked him.

"Sorry but I have lunch plans already," he told her. "How about next time, in fact I better go or I'll get even more late than I am." With that he said his farewells to the four of them as they watched him walk off down the street.

With that the four of them were now in front of the door to the food shop when they walked in they could already see mostly everyone there, only Team Kurenai seemed to be missing at the moment. The place itself had a large serving area along with more smaller booths. Given the size of their party a waiter came up to them and led them to the large table they could see from the entrance. There was a paper door that could be closed off for more privacy but they left it open so the other arrivals could see them from the door.

The place smelt of good food and was already pretty busy with the lunch hour on them.

"Hey Sakura over here," Ino waved to her as they walked in.

Minato and Sakurai looked around the large table, there sitting was Ino who they had met (or met again considering they already had 'memories' of the girl) but they could see others that they could guess at. Next to Ino was a large boy in armor that had to be Choji, he was still pretty big and had the same markings but his older self carried his weight a bit better now. Next to him had to be Shikamaru, mainly from the hair style and the bored look on his face as he looked like he would rather be asleep than anything else. It looked like the years hadn't changed him much.

There was another team that took them a moment to realize who they were given that they had only met Lee, Neji and Tenten only at the chunin exams from their memories.

"Naruto-kun it's good to see you again!" Lee welcomed them in.

"Hey Bushy-brows, Neji, Tenten how are things?" Naruto asked them walking in.

That was what jogged the clones memories from where they met them. Plus Lee still seemed to have that intense attitude that he had as a kid, Neji looked a bit more relaxed as he actually nodded politely to everyone. Minato remembered Neji was a bit cold and kind of like the Sasuke he had known. The girl Tenten he didn't know much but she seemed friendly enough.

"Hey Naruto we got a seat for you here," Karin was there as she pointed to an empty spot across from her.

"Oh okay thanks," Naruto smiled as he sat down across from the redhead that they had met earlier.

Sakura looked at the girl for a split second, she hadn't known that she would be here don't get her wrong she had nothing against the girl well not much at least. She had been a follow of Sasuke but that had been mostly her feelings for the boy, something she couldn't fault her for. After the war had ended and Sasuke left she had nowhere else to go. She had applied to join their village and for six months she had been put through tests and had been watched over by ANBU from the shadows.

Slowly she had started to earn the trust of some of the village at least Tsunade put on the official ninja roster but as a genin. She had earned her chunin rank in the exams three months ago and she was a hard worker. Sakura couldn't complain about Karin's work as she was very competent but for some reason she kept showing up around Naruto. She was obviously flirting with him and for some reason it made her want to grind her teeth. So without thinking she sat down next to Naruto noticing a slightly annoyed look on Karin's face.

'_Tch, damn why is she always here,'_ Karin thought to herself. _'I didn't know where he was going to sit so kept a place open and now she's here. Honestly is she his girlfriend or just a mother hen or something?'_

Karin had taken a liking to Naruto, when she had first been carried by him she had liked that warm feeling she got from him. Everyone in this village had a nice warmth to them but Naruto's was more special than that. Plus ever since he had gotten friendly with the tailed fox inside of him that warmth was brighter. Plus he was a really nice guy someone she wanted to try out given that the whole bad boy thing with Sasuke had been a waste of time. But here she was again trying to get him to notice her and Sakura was there blocking her efforts.

Minato and Sakurai ended up sitting next to each other as they looked around. The place seemed nice and everyone seemed like they were lively. Minato was starting to feel at home with this group while Sakurai well she was slowly starting to get used to it. Although she didn't know them personally the few she did know from her memories did seem to be a lot like how she remembered them. Ino might have grown but as she talked with Sakura it reminded the younger girl of older times.

"Hey big bro!" Konohamaru's voice rang out as the young genin rushed in with his best friends and teammates Udon and Moegi.

"Hey Konohamaru," Naruto grinned and waved to the young team. "It's been awhile you guys must have been keeping busy."

"You know it, we're doing lots of mission in order to build ourselves up for the next chunin exams!" Konohamaru pumped a fist up as he and his team couldn't wait to get to be chunins. It would be just his next step in becoming Hokage one day and to catching up with Naruto. Then he paused seeing two Narutos in the room. "What the hell why are there two of you!? Plus how come there's two Sakuras and why does she had the same markings as Big Bro?"

"You're Konohamaru?!" Minato was surprised to see the boy. "You look the same age as me now."

"I guess they hadn't heard," Ino nearly laughed at the sight of it. "Although it is surprising when you first see them."

"I got to admit it is," Tenten offered. "I mean we heard about it but seeing it is totally different."

"Yosh! They remind me of the flame of our youth when we first met!" Lee sat up straight with comical tears coming down his face remembering those days. "That was the day that I met Naruto-kun who is my greatest rival and the lovely Sakura-san!"

"Oh right I forgot about that part," Sakurai muttered to herself about how intense Lee was and how he had fallen for Sakura back then. Well that was one thing she was thankful for, she didn't need someone else after her affections. She was still getting over the fact that Sasuke was out of the picture, okay sure those were Sakura's memories and feelings but as far as she felt, part of her had had feelings for that dark haired boy.

Now she had to learn to give up those feelings that weren't even hers to begin with. It just seemed like she had a lot of catching up to do.

"Sai-kun over here!" Ino waved happily to Sai as he walked in and took the empty seat next to Naruto which it just happened to be the one across from Ino to the blonde's pleasure.

"Hey Sai glad you could come out," Naruto told his friend.

Sai gave him the usual smile he had practiced for others he still hadn't found a natural smile for himself yet. "Sorry if I'm late I was handing a report in for Captain Yamato. By the way, he said he couldn't make it but wished us well."

"Ah that's too back he couldn't be here." Sakura told him she hadn't had the chance to introduce him to Minato or Sakurai yet. In fact she hadn't seen much of him lately now that he had gone back to ANBU to help train up the new recruits. Although she knew that ANBU were supposed to be kept secret there really was no hiding him out of a crowd anymore they knew him too well. Plus all the old ROOT members that survived the war really had no idea what to do now with Danzo gone.

So Sai and Yamato had been recruited to help reform them back into the ANBU branch. Sai seemed to enjoy it as he was helping others like him remember what it meant to be human and not just a tool again.

Suddenly there seemed to be a bit of commotion from the entrance as everyone was wondering what was going on. It took a few minutes but eventually in came in the last members of the group as Team Kurenai showed up with Kiba not looking very happy as they took the last seats available to them.

"What was going on out there and how come Kiba looks so pissed?" Tenten asked the group.

"He wanted to take Akamaru inside but they don't allow dogs into the premises," Shino explained to everyone why they had trouble getting in. To Kiba even though that Akamaru was a dog, said dog was more 'human' than most people.

"I had to promise him to get something after we're finished here," Kiba muttered not wanting to let the dog out on their fun. They had been partners for so long he barely was separated from him.

"I-it's okay Kiba-kun," Hinata tried to cheer him up. "I'm sure Akamaru knows you tried and will bring him something good from here."

With everyone now here they got to ordering food, it was a good time as everyone chatted and had fun while waiting for the food to arrive. Everyone was catching up on what everyone was doing lately, either from missions to new developments. Of course Sakurai and Minato were one of the bigger parts of the conversation. Everyone was asking them questions like how they were finding the new Konoha and how they were adjusting. The two of them had a lot of questions as well as they wanted to know how everyone was doing and getting to know some of the newer faces better.

"You know I remember you being a lot more of a jerk," Minato finally said to Neji at one point. "You used to be all brooding and stuff back then."

"I've grown since then," Neji tried to keep his dignity about those years there were plenty of things he wasn't proud of back then. Most of all his attitude and what he had done to Hinata something he felt he would spend the rest of his life making up for if he had to. Of course he knew she had forgiven him long ago but he hadn't fully forgiven himself for nearly killing her out of some petty vengeance against the world.

"Well I did knock some sense into him when we fought," Naruto grinned remembering fondly winning that day.

"I remember knocking you around several times during that match," Neji shot back cooly.

"Yeah well I still won in the end."

"And yet remained a genin longer than any of us," Neji smirked knowing that was a sore subject for Naruto but a little teasing was in order now.

"There were extenuating circumstances and you know it!" Naruto crossed his arms. "You know I was training with Ero-sennin. Besides I'm a special Jonin now so you can't look down on me for being a genin."

"Yet I'm still a jonin and still your superior," Neji reminded him.

"He's a jonin now?" Minato asked.

Tenten answered him, "Yep Neji was the first of us to reach full Jonin two years ago."

"Yeah well...when I become Hokage then you'll have to answer to me all the time!" Naruto told him back.

"Very well then," Neji gave a small smile and nod to him. He was amused by Naruto's dumbfounded look in that moment as Neji just agreed with him. It wasn't any secret the list for the next Hokage was a very short one and Naruto's name was at the top. Whenever Tsunade decided to step down everyone was expecting Naruto to fully take over. Back then when they had been young genins he never would have thought that the young loudmouthed blonde boy would ever become Hokage.

Now Neji couldn't think of anyone else than Naruto as Hokage, it certainly was a strange world they lived in.

When the food finally arrived everyone dug in, the food seemed to be very good here as they enjoyed it together. Naruto was a bit disappointed with no ramen as was Minato but both boys still liked other food so they took their next best choices. Naruto was happily just finishing up his last mouth full of food before Karin got his attention.

"Have you ever tried one of these rice balls?" She asked holding up a small one with sauce on it with her chopsticks. Naruto shook his head as a glint in her eye appeared as she saw a chance. She placed it within reach of his mouth leaning over the table just slightly. She had wished she had thought to unbutton her top a little but oh well.

"Here try it, say 'ah' for me," She told him with a heated look in her eyes.

"Uh...ah?" Naruto was never good with girls and so he decided to do what she just asked him. He took it in his mouth and tried it. It wasn't bad actually but suddenly jump from a crack could be heard right next to him. He noticed Sakura seemed to have this dark aura around her as she had shattered her chopstick in one of her fists.

"A-are you okay Sakura-chan?" Naruto nervously asked.

"Yeah I'm perfectly fine," She told him but the smile on her face didn't look natural and completely forced.

Sakura didn't know why it annoyed her to no end when Karin started to get friendly with Naruto. It just really got on her nerves for some reason. She didn't have anything against the girl she really didn't but it just annoyed her when girls lately had been slightly annoying. She really didn't understand it as she picked up a new pair of chop sticks and started stabbing her food.

This hadn't gone unnoticed by a few people although two were very keen on picking it up. Ino knowing Sakura better than anyone watched her friend very closely. She was trying to hide it but Ino just couldn't help but wonder how Sakura hadn't noticed that she was actually jealous of girls showing an interest in Naruto. She had better wake up and soon or else Naruto might not wait forever for her to make up her mind about her emotions.

She might have to have a talk with her soon because it was obvious that Karin had set her sights on him and by a glance at the look Hinata was giving like she wished that she had done what Karin had just did, the competition was starting up already.

Sakurai was the other girl that noticed it too and she had an inside scoop on how Sakura's mind worked or at least how it worked a few years ago. She had spent this time learning and seeing that Sakura had grown but certain things didn't chance no matter how many years pasted. She could see that Sakura was clearly jealous and of Naruto of all things. That was something she had never expected and it only made her even more confused on their relationship.

At times it looked like they were best friends, then at times maybe a bond that was more like siblings with teasing and jokes but then you get other times where there seemed to be this spark between them and Sakurai knew that Naruto still liked Sakura, in fact it looked like his feelings had only grown. Plus looking at him he had grown up to be a good guy. He was successful, a hero and she had to admit with the baby fat gone he was kind of good looking.

She blushed as she put that thought aside she never thought the day would come when she would even think those thoughts. Looking at Minato next to her she wondered if he would grow up to look like Naruto did now. It did seem most likely as she sat there looking at him and wondering what he would become. It was strange how she had memories of her not liking a boy that looked like the one next to her and yet lately she had been rethinking everything.

Minato was the one person she felt she could connect with in this world, the only thing that she really had a solid grasp on. Sure Sakura was nice to her and her family was great too but she still felt a bit like she didn't completely fit in yet. Maybe in time but she did know that without him here this whole thing would be a lot harder.

She remembered how he had cheered her up in the hospital in her darkest moment and knew that he would do so again many times over for her.

"Huh...do I have something on my face?" Minato asked noticing her looking at him for a long moment.

She blushed as she waved it away, "N-No! Nothing just thinking." She went back to eating hoping he didn't notice. She saw him out of the corner of her eye shrug and went back to eating too. She sighed wondering what she had been thinking in that moment.

"It's too bad that Kakashi sensei had plans for lunch," Naruto thought out loud near the end of the meal. "I wonder what he had planned for today though, didn't he just get back?"

"Maybe it was the same thing that Shizune had," Karin commented with a shrug and then noticed how Sakura and Naruto were looking at her. "What? I invited her to this but she said she had plans as well."

Naruto and Sakura blinked as they looked at each other as they thought about that. Kakashi had said that he had met with Shizune earlier and now both of them seemed to have plans for lunch?

"You don't think that they're..." Naruto asked his teammate.

"Uh...I don't know I mean I doubt it," Sakura thought about it and waved it off. "No it can't be, I mean we've never seem them together or anything so maybe they just had plans and that's all."

Naruto thought about it and laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah I mean we would know if there was something going on right?"

**-Elsewhere-**

Shizune was in a nice little shop that she liked to go to for lunch, it sold a nice variety of foods and there was little booths for everyone, light music played as well as she looked out the window that viewed into one of the small parks. She liked the view from here watching the families and children it was very relaxing for her.

"Mind if I join you?"

"You're late," Shizune looked from the window to see Kakashi standing there. She hadn't even sensed his presence at all until he spoke up.

"Sorry but-"

"If you say you got lost on the road or life, or a black cat I'm leaving," She warned him.

He held up his hands, "Nothing like that I just met Minato and did a little training with him. I walked with Naruto and him to meet up with Sakura and Sakurai as well which is why I'm late. I wanted to see them first hand and get an impression of them."

"Oh okay then," Shizune was glad it was a valid excuse and she couldn't blame him for being curious. The two young clones were pretty much the talk of the village these days. Even by a medical standpoint they were fascinating. She still had no idea how Orochimaru not only made stable fully grown human clones but to somehow add in memories from the hosts? There were no records if that was meant to happen or a side effect of the process, a process they were still trying to fully understand.

It was a shame that such a mind was so twisted, if he had only used that genius for other reasons he could have helped come up with many new fields of study.

Kakashi sat down across from her, "I have to say it was very nostalgic meeting them."

"They are a lot like how they used to be at that age," Shizune smiled remembering how they had been all those years ago. Both had come a long way since those days and she wondered where Minato and Sakurai would go with their lives. "Well I haven't ordered yet so we might as well enjoy our lunch."

Kakashi smiled at her as he looked at the menu although he had a good idea of what he wanted to eat but it never hurt to check. The two of them set into a nice and calming lunch together just like they had been having for a couple of months now.

**Next up Chapter 11: Time Flies**

**Yeah I know evil, are Kakashi and Shizune dating or here as just friends? I guess we might find out...eventually lol.**


	11. Time Flies

**AN: Yeah so as I wrote this only now did the issue come out showing Tsunade is in half with a tree on her and might die. So since this is an AU after the end let's just say she wasn't that messed up in the fight or any other little thing that changes of course.**

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 11: Time Flies**

It had been a couple of weeks and so far things were beginning to get back to normal for the village. Slowly the clones were settling into their new lives, at the moment there were no open teams so Sakurai and Minato trained with Sakura and Naruto most times, or Kakashi when he wasn't busy. He even agreed to oversee them on D class missions at times. Both felt good about doing something as they couldn't just do nothing and it felt good doing ninja work again even if they were the lowest missions possible.

Slowly they were making progress in their skills although they still had to go to the hospital for examinations once a week. Tsunade wasn't taking any chances since this was all new territory with them and also wanted to check that the chakra in their bodies was settling. Given that all the other clones they had found were misshapen and had died a part of her worried for them. But so far they seemed as healthy as ever which was a good sign.

Currently Minato and Sakurai were talking together a little worse for wear after their last mission a very familiar one and one that they never wanted to do again.

"I can't believe that stupid cat is still alive," Minato muttered. "Don't they age like dogs or something, should it be like ninety now? I mean how come he's still so fast?"

"I don't know but I'm just glad that Sakura is a medic," Sakurai sighed feeling a few scratch marks.

"Actually I thought you got scratched pretty bad on the arm." Minato asked her pointing to a bare spot on her arm.

She raised it up but now it was just an ugly looking scratch she could have sworn that thing had drawn blood from her. That was odd she had been sure about it in fact she thought that certain pains weren't as bad anymore. She shrugged her shoulders at it, she didn't care they got paid for their mission and were meeting up for lunch with Naruto and Sakura.

"So...how are things with your family?" Minato asked trying to make conversation. He was never really good with small talk stuff but it was the first thing that came to mind for him.

She shrugged, "It's gotten a bit better I think we're all starting to feel a bit more like a real family. At least I stopped wondering where I am every morning."

"Yeah isn't that the worst?" He asked her. "I kept thinking I was in another place because I remember waking up in the old apartment all the time. Oh well at least the new bed I got is nice, better than the old one I remember having. Plus my room isn't as empty anymore."

"That's good," she smiled at him happy to hear that. Naruto's spare room hadn't had much in it at the time but it was good that Minato was slowly building a life for himself. "How are things with you and Naruto?"

Minato thought about it for a moment as he looked a bit more serious, "Actually I kind of like it." His face softened a bit grinning. "I never remember what it's like to have a family and now in a way I seem to have one. It's like having a big brother now and it's great. We like the same foods and sometimes we like to just sit on the couch and watch a few things on the TV. Although he's teaching me a lot too, I never had that-well he never had that-growing up so it's pretty cool."

Sakurai nodded her head by now they had nearly given up on trying to keep their 'past' memories straight. Usually they just referred to it as 'I remember' since the events never really happened to them. It just made things a bit easier when trying to keep it all straight.

They arrived at the ramen shop to see Naruto and Sakura already there, in fact Naruto already had two bowls finished as the two were already in conversation. Both young teens sat down next to them with a sign as Ayame took in their appearance.

"Rough day?" The ramen girl asked them.

"Yeah," Both said at the same time. They gave their orders as she went to work as Naruto and Sakura took in their appearances. Both of them knew of the only thing that could cause that, especially Naruto as those scratch marks were very familiar and brought back a lot of painful memories. Painful in the physical sense that is as he could still remember that damn cat's claws.

"Tora huh?" Naruto asked them knowing the answer.

"Why is that stupid cat still alive?" Minato muttered. "I thought it would have been dead by now or at least gotten slower."

"But I think it actually has gotten faster," Sakurai sighed feeling really hungry at the moment. She didn't care what she had but after all the running around cashing that cat she needed something in her stomach soon.

Both Naruto and Sakura couldn't help but give their sympathies as they remembered those missions. Naruto hated them given the cat always attacked him the most, then of course they had run into Konohamaru and his team after they had that same mission a few times as well. Sakura took a look at her arm.

"Does that hurt?"

Sakurai raised it up but strangely it didn't hurt as much anymore. "Actually I feel better for some reason."

"Yeah same here, that's weird." Minato muttered looking at his hand the cat had bit him hard once but it looked better now.

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she gently asked to see her arm. She took it and gave it a very thorough exam. There were some marks but they looked like they were several hours old or more and not fairly recent. As she examined them she noticed that the red scratch marks were actually getting smaller. She made sure of it as everyone noticed how quiet and intense she looked to be.

"Is something wrong?" Sakurai asked starting to get a little worried.

Sakura thought of just saying that there wasn't anything but that was a lie she didn't want to give her. Biting her lower lip for a moment thinking about it she could only come up with one thing that would make sense. Given all the times she had treated Naruto and she had access to his medical files (even the old ones that used to be classified) she was very familiar with what this could be.

"I think your bodies are healing at an accelerated rate." Sakura began as her mind started putting the pieces together. "I think the other chakra in your system is helping with your healing."

"Oh yeah Kurama does the same for me," Naruto spoke up after a huge gulp of ramen. "That really helped me a lot."

"So we heal fast, cool," Minato liked that idea. "Hey what else can we do with his chakra in us?"

"That is a good question," Sakurai looked to them. "I mean I don't mind that, a lot less than what it did to my face but will there be other things we should know?"

Sakura looked to Naruto as he was the 'expert' so to speak, given that he was the only jinchuriki in the village and there was only one other in the world at the moment too. Naruto saw three sets of eyes on him expecting him to know but honestly he had no idea. He tried to ask Kurama but the only reply he got from the fox was that he didn't know either. He frowned, a lot of help the fox was for that it was his chakra after all.

"Naruto," Sakura asked him obviously starting to get impatient.

"Uh...sorry Sakura-chan I got nothing." He grinned and shrugged it off.

All three of them sighed and turned away from him in disappointment. Naruto felt like he just got crushed by their reaction and needed something to save face.

"W-well how about we just test it out? We can get Yamato to help us out too in case things get too intense. He helped with my control for a bit too remember?"

"That might work with him there," Sakura agreed and then looked to the two clones. "Okay how about this after we eat and clean you two up we'll set up something with Captain Yamato? Don't worry he's a nice guy and he'll help us understand your new chakra as well. Actually now that I think about it you two have a lot in common with him."

"We do?" Both of them asked together.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that," Naruto chimed in.

Sakura took it to explain things to them, "Apparently Yamato was one of Orochimaru's experiments too. He was trying to infuse the DNA of the First Hokage into babies but only Yamato was the only one that didn't die. Because of it he has abilities of the First Hokage like wood jutsu and controlling Tailed Beasts. He actually led our team for a bit while Kakashi-sensei was in the hospital for a time."

"Awesome he sounds great!" Minato was excited to hear all about it he had never seen wood jutsu before so he wondered how it worked and what he could do with it.

"How come we never met him before?" Sakurai asked.

"Well he's been really busy," Sakura told her. "He's helping Sai with this ROOT group and integrating them back into ANBU. They've both been really busy but I think we can talk him into helping us out today. It's been awhile since we met up with him and I think this is something he would like to help us out with."

"Sounds like a plan," Naruto grinned wondering if he should give a heads up to the other two about Yamato's scare tactics. He never could handle that and he doubted that Minato would but before he could bring that up Ayame brought in the next orders and all thoughts were pushed aside as his stomach demanded more ramen.

**-Later that Day-**

Everyone met up in the training area that Naruto did his elemental training in, it had been Yamato's idea given that it was a relaxing spot that only they knew about and away from everyone. Plus the old training area for Team 7 was currently in use by a new genin team. So Naruto and Sakura led their new 'siblings' towards the training area where Yamato was already waiting. When Minato and Sakurai came into the area they were amazed by what they saw.

The high cliff with a water fall making a small lake was an amazing sight, plus the large trunk that seemed to go across the waterfall midway up it. As they came to the lake they saw an older man there in the typical ninja gear of the village. He had on a type of head gear on as well with short brown hair but a kind expression on his face.

"Hey Captain Yamato, long time no see," Naruto waved to him smiling.

"Naruto, Sakura it's good to see you both," Yamato was happy to see them it had been too long since he had been around them. Although he had only been teamed up with them for a short time they had soon become important to him. He was very proud to both know them and to have worked with them Naruto in particular had come a very long way.

He looked at the two younger ninja before him and he felt a connection to these two, they were brought into the world by Orochimaru in a way they wouldn't have chosen. It would seem that he might have learned a lot from his own creation. All three of them were linked to that mad man and he hoped that they would get along together. He smiled friendly at them hoping to put them at ease.

"So you two must be Minato and Sakurai, it's good to finally meet you both sorry it took so long but it's been a very busy time for me."

"Yeah they explained about that," Sakurai told him as the first impression she got from him was that he seemed to be a very nice man, very open and friendly.

"So you can use wood jutsu?" Minato asked suddenly eager and excited. "Can you show me? Please, I want to really see it done!"

Yamato chuckled as he nodded, "Alright just let me think...oh I know." He clapped his hands together as a tree suddenly grew out of the ground.

Sakurai was impressed by it as she knew that what she was seeing was a legendary jutsu that hadn't been seen since the First Hokage. Minato however looked a little less than impressed as he was hoping for something huge.

"You can only make trees?" Minato said a little deflated.

"Actually he can make wholes buildings," Naruto told him. "He's actually made several of the buildings in the village since it was being rebuilt. In fact the village got built a lot faster thanks to him, while on missions he also makes these really big and nice buildings when we have to sleep outside. It's really great so we don't have to sleep outside all the time."

Yamato was thankful that Naruto seemed to appreciate his skills. Especially since using this power could be very draining on him at times when he really pushed himself.

"Can he make a huge wooden statue and other cool things?"

"Yeah," Naruto grinned. "In fact he made all of this."

He pointed to the cliff and waterfall next to them.

"Whoa...you think he can do it again, I bet it looked awesome when he made all of this, how long did it take him? I bet it was really fast he must be really strong to make all this kind of stuff, hey can I learn to do any of this?" Minato was getting a bit hyper as he thought about all the cool things he could do if he could learn to do some of the things Yamato could do.

"Uh I think we should get to what we planned on doing first," Yamato tried to tell them.

"Captain Yamato is pretty cool guy maybe we could try it out," Naruto thought out loud remembering how he had been at that age eager to learn anything and everything that someone would teach him. Although he himself did need to learn a new element to become a full jonin so maybe he could find out if he had any talent for earth or water style jutsu.

"I think we're getting off track here," Yamato said.

"Cool I want to learn how to make huge water waves that will sweep over the battlefield!" Minato shouted getting more excited.

"Will you two stop it already!" Yamato came up to them using the 'scary' face on both of them. Both Naruto and Minato froze in fear at the freaky sight. Naruto forgot about this side of Yamato as it had been awhile since he had seen it and forgot to warn Minato about it.

"Now we are going to begin what we are here for, Minato I want you to stand with Sakurai over there Naruto you step aside next to Sakura." Yamato told them both as both males quickly nodded their heads. He pulled back as he was all smiles again as though nothing had happened. "Now just remember that I don't mind ruling through fear."

"Got it," Both of them said together.

"W-what was that about?" Sakurai asked Sakura. "And how come you weren't freaked out by that?"

Sakura just shrugged, "I trained with Tsunade-sama for over two years...nothing is scarier than that."

Yamato sat down as he used his wood jutsu to create a dozen special pillars around the two clones when they got together. He spaced them out just large enough to give them enough room just in case something happened. He reached out with one hand as he opened himself to that side of him that had always felt 'different'. He never talked about how he used the powers of the First in his genes to others as it felt kind of personal to him. It had taken him a long time to feel comfortable with his abilities as he had felt like he had been given something that didn't belong to him.

It hadn't been until the Third once pulled him aside for a talk years ago. Through that talk he had looked at this side of him was something that he should learn to accept. That the powers he had been given should be used to help the Leaf and that the Third Hokage knew that if the man had the will of fire within him, was an honorable man and loved the village then the First wouldn't mind Yamato having those powers.

The Third had known both the First and Second Hokage so from him Yamato had taken his words to heart. But this part of his gifts the part about feeling the Tailed Beasts and trying to control them. It always felt so much different than the wood jutsu. It always felt somewhat unnatural for him but then maybe it was just because he never really got to use it as much as his other skills. He never got used to the sensations. As he opened his mind and body he reached out and now he was searching for the demonic chakra inside of the two in the circle. It wasn't as wild as it was in Naruto, inside of him the chakra was more like a living thing always moving and turning.

This was more like feeling a river, it ran but it ran without any thought behind it. He could feel the chakra sitting there in their bodies as he very slowly started to bring it out in them.

"Okay I want you both to start to concentrate on the chakra inside of you, I'm going to bring out the other chakra slowly so you can get used to it. Remember you have to control it and not let it control you."

"Uh...okay," Minato wasn't sure what he meant by that but he started to feel something inside of him.

"I think I feel something," Sakurai felt a hot pulsing sensation inside of her like her blood was heating up. She felt her body tensing up as she felt the world slowly opening up to her. She focused on the change as it seemed like her senses were increasing. Her muscles felt stronger, she flexed her fingers and looked down noticing that her finger nails were digging into her palms slightly. Her fingernails were getting longer now as she ran her tongue inside of her mouth feeling her canines increasing.

Minato growled out feeling his whole body tensing up as he crouched slightly as though his body felt more natural in a more feral pose. He looked over at Sakurai and noticed her changes, the whisker marks were growing on her as her eyes took on a red look with a slit appearance to them. Her long pink hair got slightly spikier as well.

"How are you two doing?" Sakura asked watching them.

"Okay I think," Sakurai's voice was a bit harsher than normal. "I feel strange though."

"Like what?"

Sakurai wasn't sure how to explain it but Minato spoke up.

"I feel like I want to fight or do something, how about a spar?"

Naruto didn't remember much when he had the Kyuubi's chakra running through him like that when he was that age but thinking back on it. It usually only showed up in his fights maybe there had been a reason for it. He knew that Kurama had been filled with a lot of negative feelings before their new partnership. Maybe that old chakra held a lot of the old emotions left over from those days? He wasn't sure but to him it made sense.

"Your emotions might be heightened because of the chakra." Yamato told them as he could feel something inside of them. "Try and control it like you do with your normal chakra."

He could feel the inner turmoil inside of each of them through his ability to reach out and control the other chakra. He wasn't certain but if he had to guess the other chakra was doing all kinds of things to their bodies. Already they seemed much more aggressive he was starting to worry that if they didn't regain some mental control they might go wild again. He had read up on the report about how they had released the Fox's charka the first time.

"Are you two okay?" Sakura was starting to get a bit worried as they were both shifting around looking like they were eager to do something.

"I don't know," Sakurai felt like she her body was running at full blast already. If she had bothered to take her pulse she would have realized that it was higher than normal.

Naruto stepped forward seeing their reactions. "Try to focus I know how it feels but you can't let it control you. Try to focus on something, like...a really good memory. Think about how it made you feel and use that emotion." At least he hoped that would work from what he remembered most times he had been in a pretty angry state so maybe focusing on the opposite emotion might help, at least he hoped.

"Think of something else?" Minato wasn't sure what to think about. Most of the memories in his mind were from Naruto had barely had many memories of his own. What could he think about, he looked at Sakurai as she looked a lot more feral now although for some reason he wasn't really scared. He looked at her long pink hair slightly spiky and how the whisker marks on her face were large the green eyes that he normally knew were now red.

Yet it was still the same girl he knew, Minato knew that the feelings he had for the girl were carried over from Naruto but in the end he didn't care. He liked Sakurai Haruno and he didn't care if the feelings he had were for a girl that he only had memories of. He liked the girl in front of him and damn the memories, if he had to he would make new memories about her. Plus she was pretty, smart, he liked the way she smelled in fact he could really smell her scent now it seemed. It was drawing him to her and before he knew it he was starting at her for a long moment.

"Minato, you okay?" Naruto noticed but the young clone didn't respond.

Sakurai looked at him and as their eyes locked for a moment she felt something in his eyes almost like a burning desire for something. She wasn't sure how it made her feel but something inside of her some primal force seemed to stir. Minato's eyes looked slightly scary but she couldn't look away now, they looked like the hungry eyes of someone that wanted to devour her. It was kind of scary and yet also kind of...exciting?

"Uh...Sakura-chan is something going on?" Naruto asked her looking confused.

"I'm not sure," she replied and looked to Yamato who just shrugged.

"I'm not sensing hostility exactly but I feel something in them," Yamato went back to concentrating. Focusing on two people with this technique was a lot more difficult. He was trying to keep the chakra stable inside of them but it kept wanting to push out of them. Yamato had to either split his focus or push down on one and then quickly focus on the other. The going back and forth was able to help him concentrate but it was mentally tiring.

It had been hard enough with just Naruto doing this but now the charka in them seemed to be doing something else. It was like they were resonating with each other, in his mind he could almost see the chakra trying to reach out to the other.

Minato wasn't sure what it was but he felt this huge pull towards her now his instincts screaming at him as his conscious mind started to fade away as the rage inside of him was shifted to another primal emotion. Suddenly Minato leaped out and tackled Sakurai to the ground she growled at him as he growled back at her but not in a threatening way.

Both young teens were locked in a heated gaze almost like a pair of animals, even though Minato held her wrists she wasn't fighting back and it was almost like he was waiting to see if she would push him away. Minato saw her neck and suddenly his face went down his mouth going to it.

"Yamato stop them!" Sakura told him as to them it looked like Minato had just attacked Sakurai. "Why is he attacking her like that!?"

"I don't know maybe the chakra got the better of him!" Naruto freaked out as he was about to use his chakra mode he had used it to take control of their chakra before and maybe this time he could do it again before things got even more out of control. The whole thing had happened so fast they didn't even have time to react.

"Uh...I don't think he's attacking her," Yamato told them as both teens looked at him sharply.

Then they heard it, they heard Sakurai moan and it was obviously not one of pain. Everyone looked back to see that Minato was kissing her neck as he had let go of her wrists. One of Sakurai's hands was digging into his spiky blonde hair. Her lips took one of Minato's ear lobes into her mouth biting it lightly making him shiver. He made something that was half-growl and half-moan into her neck.

Both Naruto and Sakura were blushing as they realized the two of them were suddenly making out with each other totally forgetting that the two of them weren't alone. It was kind of surreal for them seeing younger versions of them in a heated make out session. Sakura was the first to break out of it nudging Naruto in the ribs.

"Oh right," He shook his head as he got in to his chakra mode with himself linked to the Fox like this he could reach out towards them. He could feel the fire inside of both of them but tried to ignore the feelings and sensation he could feel as he linked up with them. He quickly pushed both chakra back down inside of the two of them as he felt Yamato helping seal it up with his own power.

Suddenly both Minato and Sakurai were slowly taking on their normal appearances as their minds came back. Minato blinked as he felt something soft and kind of nice tasting that his mouth was on. He also felt something warm tugging on his ear in a way that he strangely found that he liked. He pulled away to see that he was on top of Sakurai and he had been latched onto her neck. Both young teens looked into each other's normal eyes and suddenly turned very red as what they had been doing caught up to them.

"GET OFF ME!" Sakurai shouted with an uppercut sending the young boy a few feet away. "W-What was that, what happened why was he on me and what were you doing?!"

"I-I don't know I barely remember," Minato said feeling his cheek from where she had hit him. "Why were you biting my ear like that?"

"I-I-I don't know!" Sakurai wasn't could feel herself heat up all over as various conflicting emotions ran through her mind. She was embarrassed that something like this had happened that people had been around that had seen them doing, whatever they had been doing. It was all still kind of fuzzy almost like waking up from a dream and having the memory of the dream fading away. Although she could still feel where his mouth had been on her neck making the young girl blush as her hand went to the spot.

"What happened?" Minato asked looking around. "Why were we..."

"Don't say it," Sakurai told him.

"But weren't we-"

"No we weren't!"

"Really, because it looked like-"

"No it didn't look like that!"

Yamato sighed as he got up onto his feet. He straightened his clothing as he looked at the two young ninja and scratched the back of his head as they continued talking with each other. "I think they might need more charka control skills to help them to learn how to control the chakra when they draw it out."

Sakura nodded seeing the two argue over what happened. "We have been working with them but it's mostly been physical stuff for Sakurai, we did get to tree walking at least, Naruto?"

"Well we did that too, I've been teaching him how to fight plus the rasengan but he's only at just now cleared the first stage." Naruto admitted. "I thought about doing the water walking to help him learn a bit more control since I remember doing that with summoning."

"Oh that reminds me did the toads ever get back to you about him?" Sakura suddenly remembered while also trying to ignore the two clones. How they interacted reminded her too much of how she had been in the past with him then again given the situation they had been in. She might have reacted the same in her experience to suddenly find herself in that kind of embarrassing situation.

"Yeah they still weren't too sure after all this time," Naruto shrugged. "I mean this has never happened before so they wanted to make sure that if he signed it nothing bad would happen. They said that he can at any time so I was going to do that later this week."

"I would suggest you do it sooner," Yamato told them. "They need more control if they want to really use that other chakra or else the next time we try this they'll lose control again."

"Maybe we should start up tomorrow then," Sakura said after thinking about it. They couldn't just let those two walk around without the proper training. There was no telling what might happen if they needed to use the other chakra and they weren't ready for it.

"Also try some meditation exercises," Yamato supplied after what he had seen they needed something a bit more to help with the strength of their minds. "Something to help strengthen the mind will help them keep control as well so they don't lose themselves to their emotional states...again."

"Oh I can do that," Naruto grinned. "I learned all about that while I was working on my sage skills. Well why don't we mix them up tomorrow? We can meet back here for water walking, take a break for meditation and see how it goes?"

Sakura thought about it and nodded it was a sound idea. "Good."

Naruto thought about something and wanted to see if maybe he could throw in some fun into this. Training was always better when it was fun at least in his opinion. "Maybe we should have swimsuits for this."

He caught the very suspicious look on Sakura's face pointed in his direction and knew he had to come up with an excuse really fast or else she might suspect his ulterior motive.

"Well we don't want to get all wet right?" Naruto said quickly. "I mean when I did it I fell into the water so much I was soaked for hours."

Yamato thought about it, "Sometimes ninja do wear those for this kind of training or most water style training since you generally get wet at times."

Sakura still gave Naruto a long sidelong stare part of her knew it sounded reasonable but for some reason she couldn't help but think that maybe he only said that to get her into a swimsuit. Although she didn't like the idea of getting her clothing wet they could be here all day. Trying meditation if they had wet clothing wouldn't be easy on the other two either. Sakura fidgeted a bit thinking about Naruto seeing her in a swimsuit again, she hadn't had the chance to wear one in awhile and wasn't sure she had one that fit anymore.

She was surprised by a thought that entered her mind on if he would like the one she still had or not.

"I-I don't know..." Sakura said her cheeks blushing a bit plus would Sakurai even want Minato to see her in a swimsuit after what had just happened?

"Well I figured some fun would help them relax," Naruto explained it out to her. "I think they have a lot of stress with everything plus maybe it would take their minds off today. Come on, the last time we had any kind of fun in the water was years ago." He pouted at her hoping that would break her just enough to give in.

"They do need the training," Yamato told her as the two were now just sitting there not looking at each other still red in the face. "Plus maybe they could use some bonding time to help get more comfortable with each other."

Sakura sighed knowing that they needed the training to help with controlling their new chakra inside of them. So she broke down and gave in, "Alright but you two better behave Naruto."

"We will!" Naruto told her as he was grinning on the inside and was excited to see it. It had been a gamble but it had paid off he would finally get to see Sakura in a swimsuit for the first time in years. The idea had just came to him suddenly when he had suggested it. Now that it paid off he couldn't wait for tomorrow.

**Next up Chapter 12: That Strange Feeling**


	12. That Strange Feeling

**AN: A few reviewers have suggested that I make a genin team with Minato and Sakurai with Yamato as their sensei. I think this could work although I might have to make an OC their own age, I'm thinking someone from ROOT their own age.**

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 12: That Strange Feeling**

Sakurai was walking through the village still trying to get used to how everything looked, even after all this time she kept expecting to see more familiar sights but that was just because of the memories in her head. Well she knew it was only a matter of time before the village started to feel more at home to her. Walking down the streets she didn't know when it started but suddenly she felt like someone was watching her. Looking around she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary but she kept feeling like someone was following her.

Speeding up her pace she almost felt like someone or something was stalking her. Moving through the village streets the feeling didn't go away. She quickly took the side streets and alleyways she was soon lost in the seemingly endless twist and turns until she came into a dead end. Turning around she looked at the way she came but there was no one there. The enclosed area felt slightly suffocating as her heart was starting to race. She waiting to see what was following her as an eerie silence seemed to fall over the world. She no longer could hear the rest of the village making her feel almost alone but she knew she wasn't.

She jumped when she heard the thump behind her quickly turning around she felt a strong grip on her as she quickly found herself pushed against one of the walls. For the first time she could see that it was Minato, he had to have been on the rooftops as he had landed behind her but it was the look that froze her. He had this wild look on him, his facial marks were larger and it was his red eyes they bore into her own.

"M-Minato?"

"Mine," he growled out before she felt his lips on her own as it seemed like a fire burned inside of her at his touch. He held her wrists as she tried to fight back but as the kiss deepened the less she struggled and the more lost she became in the kiss. He was dominating her as she heard him growl out into her mouth. She felt her mouth open as his tongue ran inside of her mouth making her moan. He slowly took his hands away from her wrists as they caressed the sides of her body.

She used her hands to grip his face pulling him closer as her eyes opened up revealing red eyes of her own.

It was at that moment that Sakurai Haruno shot up in bed with a gasp, looking around she was a bit disoriented at first before she looked around seeing her new room. She was breathing hard as she could feel her heart hammering in her chest.

_'Thank goodness it was only a dream...a dream,'_ she paused remembering the dream as her eyes widened and she blushed bright red. She quickly fell back onto her bed and quickly put her pillow over her face. She couldn't believe that she had that kind of dream and with Minato of all people. She didn't like him like that, she...well she was going to say Sasuke but that was left over memories talking and the fact that even if he was still around he would be several years older.

She groaned into her pillow as the images of the dream weren't leaving, she snuck a peek at the clock and saw it was still an hour too early to get up. She tried not thinking about it but it kept coming back plus the vague memories of what happened in training.

Why out of all the people she knew had she had to have a dream like that about him? She never thought of him in that way at least she didn't think so. So many of her memories were from Sakura that it really got confusing to her where Sakurai started and Sakura ended in her mind. Who was she really, a copy with all the thoughts and feelings of the original? If that was true then did Sakura have hidden feelings for Naruto and were these being transferred over?

As she thought about it in her bed she groaned again into her pillow, her life was so confusing and she still couldn't make sense out of a lot of things. This whole thing with Minato was just one example there was the other chakra in her system. What did that make her, did it make her something different and had it been responsible to waking up feeling Minato's mouth on her neck or was the dream telling her that she already had feelings for him?

She wasn't sure who she could talk to about any of this, sure Minato for some of it but she couldn't talk him about personal things like this he might take things the wrong way even if she could get over the embarrassment of it all. She looked at her clock again, only five minutes had passed.

It was going to be a long hour.

**-Later-**

Sakura noticed that Sakurai had been oddly quiet as they made their way to the training area to meet up with the boys. The girl's shoulders were slightly hunched forward as it seemed a lot was on her mind, which Sakura could understand given the girl's life at this point there was a lot to try and understand and also trying to fit in.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked eventually as they were getting out of the city area and more into the forest area.

"I'm okay just...had an odd dream," The girl replied not wanting to go into detail about what she had dreamed about. She really wasn't looking forward to seeing Minato at the moment she just felt a bit confused as she wasn't sure what she was thinking of feeling.

She mulled over how much to talk to Sakura about it wasn't that she didn't trust the older girl since they were basically the same person and all. It was just kind of personal and even Sakurai wasn't sure about some of the things in her own head.

"Sakura, how are you sure you like someone and not because of something else?" Sakurai asked her

Sakura was surprised by this thinking that the young girl might be referring to Sasuke; after all she remembered what she was like back then and how he had been on her mind a lot. Sighing she thought long and hard about it. "It depends I guess, I'm not the expert or anything. Why do you ask is there someone on your mind?"

"No nothing like that!" Sakurai answered quickly. "It's just that well you and Naruto seem pretty close and you seem to get jealous when other girls are noticing him."

"I-I don't get jealous!" Sakura defended herself.

Sakurai gave the older girl a slight look, "Then if that Karin girl were to go out with him you would be okay with that?"

Sakura was silent as a shadow seemed to cover her face as she forced a smile on. "If...if that's what h wants..."

'_But is it what you want?'_ Sakurai thought looking at her. It would seem that Sakura wasn't very honest with herself. This wasn't helping Sakurai in anyway if the feelings and thoughts she currently had were her own or left over from Sakura. She wasn't going to get an honest answer out of Sakura at the moment. So she left it at that for now as they came into the training area the boys were already there waiting for them. By the looks of it a few towels were brought by them on the ground but she didn't see any swimsuits.

The girls were carrying all their stuff in a small bag in their hands going to change in the bushes away from certain eyes.

"Hey you guys made it," Minato waved to them. "Come on let's get this started I really want to learn how to walk on water."

"He's eager as ever," Sakura said to herself with a smile.

"Okay so now that we're all here we might as well change and get started," Naruto was eager to start teaching. Ever since Minato showed up he had been teaching the boy a lot of stuff and he found that he liked it. Maybe if he liked it so much he would think about asking Tsunade if he could have a genin team one day.

"Alright well we better change then," Sakurai said and then suddenly noticed the boys taking off their shirts.

"What are you two doing!?" both girls yelled out blushing in embracement as the boys looked to be changing in front of them.

"W-wait we got our swimming trunks on under our clothing," Naruto said quickly. "We thought that it would be easier this way."

"Oh, well okay then," Sakura told him feeling a bit embarrassed that she jumped the gun about what they had intended to do. She didn't think of wearing the swimsuits under their clothing simply because that it would be uncomfortable for the long walk here. "Well we'll just change over there in the bushes. Don't either of you think of looking!"

"We wouldn't!" Both boys said at once although now that she said it both of them couldn't help but wonder.

They watched both girls go into the bushes and disappearing from view they quickly took off their outer clothing as they were now in different styled black and orange swim trunks. Naruto kept casting looks to the bushes wondering what Sakura would come out wearing. All kinds of styles went through his mind and although he might amid that the thought of sneaking just a little look was so very tempting for him.

But he kept himself from doing it because he wasn't like Jiraiya plus he knew the power of Sakura's punches and didn't want to get sent flying again. There was a rustling in the bushes as the girls came out. Sakura was in a two piece that the top was more of a sports wear style, Sakurai came out in a one piece both were in the usual red and white coloring that both girls liked to wear.

Sakura and Sakurai felt a little self conscious about it after all they hadn't gone out in swimwear in awhile plus they were alone with the boys it wasn't a public place but a private one with just them.

"Well then we better get started," Sakura spoke up and noticed the way Naruto was looking at her. "W-what?" She felt like covering herself a bit on how he was looking at her. He was gawking with a blush and she wasn't certain but was there a little blood coming out of his nose? She felt her face heat up at the thought of Naruto checking her out.

Naruto couldn't take his eyes off her and was glad that she agreed to this idea. He looked up her toned legs to the nice hips she had. Her flat stomach was nicely toned from the years of training with Tsunade not to mention there wasn't any fat on her body. She had her hair up like he had seen when she had healed Gaara's brother and the whole thing image he wanted to burn into his memory.

Minato was just as captivated by Sakurai's look, her longer hair went well with what she was wearing and he wasn't sure what he wanted to do more train or look at her all day.

"C-can we get started," Sakurai said feeling very uncomfortable at the moment.

"Oh right well this way," Naruto went to the lake as he started to walk on the surface as Sakura followed him giving both of the younger ninja a demonstration.

Minato stood next to her and decided to try and say something. "You look really good today."

She blushed feeling how close he was as yesterday and the memory of that dream came into her mind. She quickly pushed him away at arms length, "You're too close!"

"I am?"

"Yes keep that far," She blushed making sure he was a few feet away. She wasn't sure she trusted either him or herself too close to each other at the moment. She just needed some personal space for the moment while she figured things out for herself. Plus she needed to focus on the training instead hoping it would keep her occupied with something other then what was confusing her now.

"Okay now this is basically like tree walking," Sakura started to tell them as she pointed at her feet. "If you look closely you'll see that there is the usual blue glow from chakra on our feet."

Both young ninja strained to look but they could just make out what she was talking about.

"Now because water is always moving you can't keep the chakra stable like on solid surfaces." She continued to explain it to them. "You have to constantly keep the chakra shifting on your feet, not a lot just enough to keep you stable is fine. If you shift it too fast you'll just fall into the water."

"Yeah it can take some getting used to," Naruto jumped in remembering how hard things were for him. "Just take your time and slowly get into it once you get the hang of it, it gets a lot easier. I don't even think about it anymore when I do this."

Both younger teens looked at each other before stepping onto the water slowly. They put their chakra into their feet remembering the tree climbing. Already they could feel the difference, unlike trees which felt solid the water was constantly moving even though it was pretty still water. It was like walking on Jell-o as they tried to keep their balance. Sometimes they would feel their feet starting to sink into the water and quickly try to compensate for it.

Sakurai was having an easier time as she had better chakra control although Minato was struggling.

Eventually the two of them managed to get to where the older counterparts were. Sakurai was a bit steadier on her feet while Minato seemed to struggle just keeping on the water.

"Okay once you get used to it we'll do things like running on water now to jump onto water and not fall in and then we can have some fun later one," Naruto grinned. He noticed that Minato was having a little trouble. "Try and shift it a little because if you do it too fast-"

Minato let out a startled cry as he fell through the water and slashing them as he quickly swam up to the surface and tried to get on top of the water again.

"I can see why you said swimsuits were needed," Sakura commented seeing Minato's trouble. "Try pushing your body up with chakra, you can use the palms of your hands to help as you can use them like your feet to get a steady 'grip' on the water."

"Oh okay," Minato tried it and found he could pull himself out of the water. It wasn't easy but with his hands using the water's surface as a 'solid' he got his body higher and pulled a foot out of the water and slowly pulled himself up. It was awkward and he was still trying to get his balance but at least he wasn't sinking. He tried to alter the chakra in his feet more slowly last time he might have been too quick about it.

"Alright let's try walking from one end of the lake to the other," Naruto spoke up as he walked beside Minato helping him out as he could explain things to Minato that he could understand after all they had basically the same mind.

"Man Sakurai-chan is really good at this," Minato said out loud looking at her to ask her. "How do you do it? You doing this really easily like you've been doing this before."

She shrugged, "I'm just putting my mind on it is all."

"Well it's really impressive," he grinned at her.

She felt something stir inside of her that she didn't understand at his praise and his smile. Something warm inside of her but before she could think on it further she yelped as suddenly her next step went through the water. Which in turn meant that she slashed nearly face first into the water, Minato was startled by this causing him to fall into the water as well.

Both teens came out of the water with Sakurai glaring at him.

"What did I do?" He asked innocently seeing the look he was getting.

Sakurai just groaned sinking slightly deeper into the water to avoid making her blush shown. She didn't want to say that she was thinking about what he said to her that caused her to lose her concentration or how it made her feel. He would only take it a certain way it was so much easier when she just didn't like him. Of course their time in the hospital together made her start to rethink things and the weeks since made her open up a bit more to him.

She decided not to say anything and started to try the water walking again and focus on just that.

Minato watched her confused he wished he could understand girls maybe he could ask Naruto he seemed at least able to be around them a lot more. Plus he had a few hanging around him so he had to know something right? He would ask later after today when they were done with the training.

For the rest of the morning the training went on as usual, after a few laps back and forth across the water the young ninja seemed to be getting the hang of it. Minato had fallen a few more times but by now he had a solid grasp on the technique. Now came the more fun moments, they raced on the water trying running which caused them to stumble a few times but they eventually got the hang of it.

Next they had them try jumping and landing onto the water without crashing through it. This was a bit harder for them to pull off as the sudden stop was hard to pinpoint. They usually had to get the chakra on their feet and as soon as they landed had to quickly shift the chakra onto their feet to make sure they didn't suddenly sink. Again this took some trial and error on their end and a few more slashes happened.

For one of the final lessons Sakura used her strength to pound her fists into the lake making huge waves. Maybe it had been little unfair but it had been pretty funny the first time they saw the wave coming at them and ended up being pretty water logged after that. After a few hours Naruto decided that maybe it was time to give them a break. He said they could have an hour on the lake before they all went out for lunch. So Sakurai and Minato ended up doing some light practicing although it didn't take long for Minato to get a bit mischievous.

He jumped up and went into a cannonball slashing Sakurai with water when he came back up for air he was laughing. This earned him a slash in the face from Sakurai and soon the two were in a bit of a splash war against the other.

Naruto and Sakura had taken a break and were on a towel drying off as they watched the two as they splashed at each other actually enjoying themselves. The two ninja watching them smiled at the sight. Although the two had finished their training they did seem to still be full of energy. Naruto laughed at the sight of them as it kind of reminded him of a few good memories of the past.

"Man it's good that they get along Sakura-chan," Naruto spoke up watching as Sakurai had Minato in a headlock at this point.

"If you say so," Sakura sighed not sure what he was getting at given what she was looking at. If this was Naruto's idea of getting along she wondered what not getting along would be for him.

"No really look at them, she's not holding his head all that hard and he could get out if he really wanted to." Naruto point it out to the pink haired girl who looked again. She could start to see what Naruto was talking about although it was a little rough housing there was no malice in it.

"Looking at them reminds me when we were that age." Naruto smiled but Sakura didn't.

Sakura did remember how she was at that age and honestly she didn't like what she remembered. It hadn't been until the chunin exams when she had really started to grow as a person and had started being nicer to Naruto. She had even cheered for him in the exams in his fight against Neji and had been really happy when he had won. But before that she hadn't always been that nice to him, to be totally honest she could have been a lot nicer.

She sighed there were times she wished she could go back and do it all over again but she couldn't change the past only learn from it and make the future better. Looking at Sakurai and Minato it looked like they might not have all that trouble maybe in a way it was the universe given 'them' another chance to be more like friends over the years.

Naruto noticed Sakura's mood change and looked at her, "What's wrong you looked kind of sad there for a moment."

Sakura forgot that he had been there and felt a bit embarrassed that it had been noticed. She was going to tell him that it was fine but honestly this was something she had always meant to talk to him about and she had always wanted to apologise to him. It was a long time coming and seeing the slight concern in those expressive blue eyes of his she felt maybe now was the best time. She had put it off for long enough she figured.

"Naruto…I'm just thinking back and I never said that I was sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

She shut her eyes and winced sometimes he was too good a person that it hurt. "I mean about all the times I was mean to you. I was horrible at times to you because I was just stupid little girl, I should have been nicer to you. I wish I had been, if I could do it all over again I would change so much."

"It's okay Sakura-chan," he told her honestly. "I know that sometimes I did have it coming but I never held a grudge against you or anything, in fact the more you pushed the more determined I was to make you like me." He grinned at her making her shake her head but still smile.

"That's insane."

"Hey I like doing things the hard way," He gave a small laugh.

Pulling up her legs to her chest resting her chin on her knees looking at the two young clones she only felt a bit better about it all. "I still wish I could make it up to you some way."

An idea started to form in his mind although he didn't want to take advantage of the situation she did say she wanted to make it up to him. Plus maybe this might be the only way to ever get to do something he always wanted to do with her. She might get pissed and deck him but he did manage to talk her into swimwear for this training. Deciding to push his luck just a bit more he decided to go for it.

"Well…I guess there is one thing you could do to make it up to me." He told her blushing a bit looking ahead.

She cast a sideways look at him and noticed his expression as she frowned a bit. "If it's anything perverted you can forget it."

"No it's nothing like that!" He quickly told her being truthful. "It's just that, there's something that I've always wanted to do, something that I kind of dreamed of happening."

Now she was a bit curious, "What is it?"

"Well…I want you to go out on a date with me," Naruto said and noticed the look on her face. "A real one," he said quickly.

"A real proper one, not just going out for ramen or something like that but a real date Sakura-chan."

"Naruto," Sakura sighed not sure where to start.

"Oh come on just one date," He pleaded with her. "I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend or anything serious I just…well I just want one date with you." He said getting a bit more serious with her. "I just want one memory of a good date with you, if you have a bad time well then I can say that I tried my best. You don't have to go on anymore if you don't want to but for years I always wanted to have just one date with you."

"If you could do that it would mean a lot to me."

Sakura thought about it he was very serious about it all and she knew his feelings for her. She wasn't sure she really wanted a relationship at this point in her life. It had been hard picking things up after the war and she only just now felt stable in her personal life. Naruto was saying it was just for one date nothing more but she didn't want to give him false hope or feel like she would be leading him on.

He really did deserve someone that could freely give her heart to him and she was so unsure of herself in that regard. Looking at him now she could see that this would really mean a lot to him and she felt herself waver about it. He really had his hopes set on this and she couldn't just dash them plus he did say that this would make up for her past actions and she did want to make it up to him.

After a minute of mulling it over she let out a defeated sigh, "Alright I'll do it."

"Yeah!" Naruto nearly jumped up he was so happy. For years he had wanted to get a real date with her and now he finally got it.

"Just one remember," She held up her hand with a finger up showing him.

"Yeah one is all I need," He replied thinking about it. "Don't worry it won't be anything too fancy but it won't be anything like a simple ramen date. I promise it will be a good time can I pick you up tomorrow at six?"

"Yeah okay that's fine," Sakura couldn't believe that it had happened she agreed to actually go on a date with Naruto.

Naruto had a huge grin on his face, he had so many plans over the years in case he ever got this far. So he had plenty to choose from. Already his mind was racing with ideas, picking apart the ones that wouldn't work with ones that just might do it. He would have to prepare a few things but that shouldn't be too hard. Tomorrow morning however he was going to have to take a stop at a few places, he wanted to make sure he had decent clothing, maybe a gift? Oh he had to do flowers and he knew who might help him out with that and would know her favorites.

Sakura might have only agreed to just one date but he was going to make it a memorable one. Plus if he did it just right maybe he could finally make her fall for him. He would give it his all to show her his real feelings and maybe just maybe she would open her hear to him. If she didn't, well yeah it would hurt and kind of suck but at least he could say that he did his best.

Looking at her now he felt his heart race he really hoped that the date went well. Maybe he would even get a kiss at the end of it? He really hoped so that would make his day.

**Next up Chapter 13: A Date with Naruto?**

**Sorry if it's a little shorter than normal but I plan to try and put more into the next chapter.**


	13. A date with Naruto

**AN: Because Sakura's parents were finally shown in the anime, I went back and edited the previous chapters with them showing their anime appearances and names. So from now on their names are Mebuki Haruno for her mother and her father is Kizashi Haruno. I only edited the names and their looks everything else so far is the same.**

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 13: A Date with Naruto?**

When Naruto woke up that morning he groggily got up feeling like something important was going to happen today. Naruto always took few minutes to fully wake up sometimes so when he noticed that Minato was still asleep he decided to take the bathroom first. In the middle of brushing his teeth that's when it hit him. He had a date with Sakura today!

His eyes widened as he nearly spit out the toothpaste in his mouth into the mirror. He had nearly forgotten as he quickly finished cleaning up and went to work. First stop was to make sure he had decent clothing ready, then he was going to make sure he could get into that restaurant that he knew served that food she liked. He would set up a few more things as well but he had a big day to plan out, he really hoped nothing went wrong with this.

"What's going on?" A slightly sleepy Minato asked being woken up and going to see what all the commotion was about. He had been having such a nice dream too although for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was now.

"Sorry I got a lot of work I need to get done," Naruto told him in a rush.

"What's so important you got a mission today?" Minato asked scratching himself a little.

"Better than that, I got a date with Sakura-chan tonight, I'll be back later!" Naruto called out while he was leaving the apartment.

"Oh okay then," Minato yawned and shuffled off to the bathroom. It wasn't until he splashed some water on his face when those words finally registered with him.

"Wait what!?" Minato cried out.

**-Yamanaka Flower Shop-**

Ino Yamanaka was sitting behind the counter for her family's flower shop it wasn't a bad second job for her. When things were slow as a ninja and she had no training she helped out here it did give her a little extra income which was nice but sometimes it could be a little boring. So far her mother had needed help for the day so with nothing else to do she was working as her mother was currently working with their store's inventory in the back. They had just gotten a few new arrivals and her mother was making sure the plants were healthy before they were sold.

She was reading a magazine seeing some new shoes that would just look cute on her when the bell chimes over the door sounded as a new customer walked in. She was surprised to see Naruto of all people walking into her store she couldn't remember him ever walking in. Naruto looked around and Ino could see that the boy was pretty clueless given how he was looking around all over the place.

"Hey can I help you with something Naruto?" Ino called over to him.

"Uh yeah, actually I was hoping you were going to be working today," he grinned at her scratching the back of his head nervously.

Ino blinked not sure why he wanted her here but something was telling her that something interesting was about to happen. "Okay well I'm here so what do you need?"

"I need really great flowers to give to Sakura."

Ino sighed, "What did you do this time to piss her off?"

"I didn't do anything!" He shouted and then blushed as he scratched his cheek. "I got a date with her tonight is all."

Ino blinked as she looked at him closely he didn't seem to be lying as Naruto given all the things he could do he was a horrible liar. She wasn't sure if she could believe it or not but he was really serious had Sakura finally accepted a date from him? Then again Naruto had been asking for years he could have finally worn her down. Either way this could be something really big or also the biggest gossip since she heard about that some chunin had been caught in bed with his wife's sister last month.

"So you finally got a date with Forehead huh? Good for you both so you want my help with the flowers."

Naruto nodded he knew that Ino knew Sakura really well being best friends with the girl for a long time so if anyone knew the kind of flowers that Sakura would like Ino would.

"I think I have an idea just hold on," Ino went to work as she gathered up what she felt was the perfect idea for a bouquet for Sakura. She took two different flowers in the center she put in pink daffodils with cherry blossoms thrown in. The daffodils were the flowers of March which were Sakura's birthday plus she knew that Sakura liked them. A part of her was wondering if another flower might be better as the flower meant rebirth, respect, regard and unrequited love.

Thinking about it she knew that Naruto did respect and held Sakura in high regard as for the unrequited love bit she knew that Naruto had been in love with Sakura for as long as she had known him back in their school days. So maybe it was appropriate but Sakura would know the meanings and would this effect the date? Should she replace the flowers with something a bit better? Ino knew Sakura like a sister and honestly maybe the girl needed a little kick to realize what was in front of her.

So she kept the flowers as is, the cherry blossoms were more of symbol of Sakura's name which meant cherry blossom. So with the flowers neatly arranged she wrapped them up perfectly as she handed them over to Naruto. He looked at them, they looked nice and everything and they smelled nice. He trusted Ino's judgement that Sakura would like them.

"Thanks I had no idea what Sakura-chan would like so thanks for the help." He smiled.

"Sure thing," She rung him up as he paid for the flowers. "Tell me how the date goes," she called out to him as he left. She waited until he was out of sight as she quickly ran into the back room seeing her mother looking over some of the flowers.

"Mom I need to take off for a little bit," Ino told her.

Her mother sighed, "Really? I haven't finished checking the flowers and I think one might have gotten bugs eating some of the leaves while in transport."

"It's just for a little while something important came up," Ino told her mother hoping she would take it to mean ninja matters. After all her ninja duties came first and the shop was secondary as that was the deal she made with her parents for helping out. She didn't want to lie exactly to her mother but this really was important.

"Alright just don't be too long please."

"Thanks I'll be back as soon as I can!" Ino cheerfully ran off. She made her way quickly to Sakura's house wanting to see if Sakura really was going on a date with Naruto. Not that she didn't believe Naruto but she was curious why Sakura finally said yes to the boy. She knocked on the door as Sakura's mother answered it.

"Hello auntie is Sakura in?" Given how close she had been with Sakura's family when younger she had taken to calling them that. It was nice since repairing their friendship that she could come over here and call them that again.

Sakura's mother smiled "yes of course although she's shut herself in her room for the past few hours for some reason."

"Really?" Ino was a lot more curious now if Sakura was doing what she thought she was doing.

In her room Sakura had several outfits on her bed and not for the first time she was considering changing them again. Every time she thought he had a nice outfit picked out she changed her mind and went looking for something more. She groaned in frustration as she went looking for different outfits in her closet again. Naruto had said nothing too fancy but also something more than just casual but she wasn't sure she had anything decent like that. She was so used to wearing her normal clothing for her work and clothing for her days off.

She didn't really own anything really fancy given that it wasn't like she had a night life so she was left slightly frustrated.

"This won't do at all," she told herself putting back an outfit. There was a knock on her door as she turned to see Ino coming in. The blonde took one look of all the clothing on the bed and grinned.

"Ino what are you doing here?"

"Well I heard something interesting today," Ino grinned walking into the room and looking over Sakura's choices. "I heard you actually have a date tonight and with Naruto of all people."

"H-How did you hear about that already!?" Sakura blushed slightly wondering just who told her that and how many others knew about it already.

"I have my sources," She smiled at her. "Although I have to admit you're really trying to go all out with him for this huh?"

"W-well it's my first date and he said he was putting a lot of thought into it. So I wanted to at least want to put some thought into what I'm wearing," Sakura tried to make it sound logical although for the past two hours she had been trying to figure out just the right thing to wear. For some reason she was really worried about what she should have on for this.

Ino smirked at the sight of Sakura who was trying to rationalize things as usual sometimes she wished the girl would listen to her heart more than just thinking with her head. "Well what kind date is this, fancy or plain?"

"I think a little in between..."

"Okay first off you want to make him drooling all over you for the entire date?"

"Ino!"

"What? You know the guy is crazy about you so do you want him to be putty in your hand or not?"

"Look I agreed for this date because he asked me and it would mean a lot to him, I'm not looking into making this a relationship so I don't want to give him the wrong impression," Sakura crossed her arms looking over her choices.

Ino held back a sigh if this was really nothing special than she wouldn't be agonizing over what to wear is what she wanted to point out but maybe it was time to just lead her in the right direction and make her own choices on the matter. "Okay let's see what we have to work with I have to get back to the shop...so...what kind of underwear are you going to wear for him?"

"Ino!"

"Okay okay, well we might want to change your hair style a little at least after all this is your first date as well as Naruto's right?"

Sakura took a little of her pink hair in hand thinking about that. She wasn't sure what she could do with it as she had kept it short so there wasn't much she could pull off.

"I still can't believe you got a date before me though," Ino muttered to herself looking at Sakura's clothing choices.

**-Later, Haruno household-**

To say that Naruto was nervous was an understatement as he walked to the front door of Sakura's home. This was his one chance to really impress Sakura, he was hoping that if everything went well then maybe he might, just might get her to think of him as more than a friend. He knew he was getting ahead of himself but after years of trying he finally got a date with the girl of his dreams.

He hesitated a little fixing up his clothing, he didn't have much as just some decent blank pants with an orange shirt he had picked up last month because it looked nice. Although the black light jacket was something he had picked up earlier today feeling that he could use something that she hadn't seen him wear before. He had the flowers in hand as he knocked on the door not sure if he would get one of her parents or even Sakurai at the door if Sakura didn't answer.

To his surprise it was Sakura's mother that did answer the door as she looked surprised to see him as well.

"Oh Naruto you looked nicely dressed today," She like everyone in the village of course knew who Naruto was but she had never had the chance to really get to know the boy which she found odd as he was on her daughter's team. It just seemed that they were always so busy but looking at the young man now nervously standing there with flowers she finally got an idea what has Sakura locked in her room all afternoon.

She smiled seeing the boy shuffle uncomfortably there as he looked unsure what to say to her. Before she could say anything hurried feet approached as they turned to see Sakura all dressed up. She had her hair up tied up behind her hair wearing a nice red dress with straps for the shoulders. It was a nice dress for going out, nothing too fancy but nothing too plain. Although as Naruto stood there he couldn't take his eyes off the girl.

"Well don't you look nice," her mother said smiling at her daughter who of course blushed.

Sakura had hoped that she could have avoided this as she hadn't wanted to make a big deal out of this but if her parents found out, well her father might make a joke about it while her mother did tend to take things more seriously well Sakura could already see the mischief in her mother's eyes.

Naruto got out of his stupor looking her over as he held out the flowers to her, "Uh, here I got there for you."

"Oh thanks," Sakura took them and then noticed the flowers and the nice smell they were. She was surprised that he got her birth flowers as well as her namesake among them. It was a touching thought as the mixed smell was nice to her.

"Do you want me to put those into water for you or do you want to do it?" Her mother asked.

Sakura was about to put them herself but leaving Naruto alone with her mother didn't seem like a good idea at the moment. So she handed them to her mother and asked for her to put them in water for her.

"Alright," she took the flowers watching as her daughter put on her shoes. "Have a good time you two." She smiled walking off leaving two slightly blushing young adults together.

"Y-you look really nice Sakura-chan."

She felt her face heat up even more, "Thanks you look nice too, is that a new jacket?"

"Ah you noticed," He grinned happy at that as the two started walking as Naruto took the lead.

What they didn't noticed was a pair of eyes watching them from the shadows as Ino stuck her head out just a little bit to get a better look. She grinned thankful the flower shop was closed now there was no way she was missing this event. Before moving to another cover spot she noticed something else on one of the buildings. Looking a little harder there was a figure that seemed to be shadowing from the rooftops.

"Well this is getting more interesting," She said quietly to herself. Making a quick check she ran across the street and up the sides of one of the buildings hoping that the action wouldn't be noticed. Sakura and Naruto had their backs turned but they wouldn't be much of ninjas if they were totally oblivious to their surroundings either. Ino silently crept at the figure on the rooftops spying on the two below. Ino moved silently and quickly as she grabbed the young girl's mouth from behind to prevent her from crying out in surprise.

"And what are you doing here Sakurai?" Ino teased.

Sakurai looked behind her when the hand came over her mouth she had let out a muffled cry of surprise but seeing that it was Ino now the girl looked a bit abashed at being caught. Ino slowly let her hand drop away.

"Well I heard that she and Naruto had a date so, well I was just..." Sakurai wasn't sure what she could say. On the one hand she was curious if Sakura really did have feelings for Naruto, because if she did then what would that say of her own confusion that was feeling lately with Minato?

"So you wanted to see how this date went as well huh?" Ino guessed and Sakurai decided to just go with that and nod her head. "Well then let's go because if we keep standing here we're going to lose them."

The two girls watched Naruto lead Sakura to a decent looking restaurant.

"Oh I know this place," Sakura brightened at the site of the familiar setting. The restaurant was owned but a nice older couple who had been working in Konoha since she had been a little girl. Like everyone else they had rebuilt after Pain's attack, which made her very happy. If Naruto had his ramen stand then she had this place.

"Oh yeah well I did hear that this place had good dango and served anmitsu. So looks like a good place to pick then," He grinned happy about the choice.

"Yeah...wait why those things?"

"Well they're your favorite foods right?"

Sakura stopped in her tracks looking at him with wide eyes. "How did you know that? I don't think I never told you that before."

"Well you always liked to eat them on breaks," Naruto thought back to those times on missions even as genins together. "When you had a hard day you like to have anmitsu and you always pick the syrup-coated anko dumplings for your dango when you eat them. Oh and I don't know but you never seem to eat anything spicy."

Sakura's mouth worked a few times before she could speak, "How did you..."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Well we've been on the same team for a few years now and I kind of noticed a few things here and there is all." He wanted to say how he had always looked at her but taking a moment to actually think about it, that sounded a little creepy outside of his head.

Sakura felt nearly floored that he had paid that much attention to her, of course she had known some of his own habits too as when you worked with someone long enough you did pick up on those. She just never thought Naruto paid that kind of attention to her. It felt kind of nice knowing that for some reason as a warm expression slowly moved to her face.

"I don't like spicy food that's why I don't eat it." She told him honestly.

"Oh I thought it might be something like that but I wasn't sure," He chuckled as they went into the restaurant.

The little show hadn't gone unnoticed by two female ninjas hiding close by either.

"So taking her to a place that serves her favorite food, that's a good start." Ino said out loud slightly impressed so far with Naruto's planned date.

"Oh I think I know that man there," Sakurai noticed one of the owners and seeing the name remembered his place although it had completely changed like the rest of the village. She was starting to feel a little hungry just looking at the place. While she was looking over the new building she noticed something in a bush near one of the windows.

She nudged Ino and pointed to the area as the blonde saw it too. As Naruto and Sakura went inside Ino and Sakurai quickly went to the bush and soon found yet a third spy among them. This time it was Minato watching them. He had found out from Naruto where he had planned to take Sakura so the youth wanted to see the date as well. Mainly so he could get pointers if he could ever get Sakurai to agree to a date.

"Look whose here." Ino spoke up.

Minato cried out with a jump and quickly turned around, "I wasn't doing anything!"

Both girls quickly covered his mouth and they all hid when heads inside turned in their direction. They both hushed him and slowly let their hands down from his mouth.

"What are you two doing here?" Minato asked.

"Same as you are, spying on Naruto and Sakura's date of course," Ino told him. The three of them silently looked into one of the windows trying to find Naruto and Sakura.

"There they are," Minato whispered pointing them out.

"Crap they're too far to hear anything," Ino was straining to hear but they were too far and too many other people. "I wish I could read lips."

"Same here," Sakurai and Minato said at once as both looked at each other before quickly looking away. Ino found it cute and was starting to wonder if there might be something going on with the two young clones. They had all the memories of Naruto and Sakura so did that mean they had the same tastes?

"Can't you use your family's jutsu to do something?" Sakurai asked knowing full well Ino's ability to switch minds.

"Maybe," She looked around. "But we're not supposed to use that against members of the village plus I don't want to jump into a couple. Maybe one of the waiters but then I'd only get little bits."

"They're also in the middle of the room away from the other windows." Sakurai told her.

"How about we just use a disguise?" Minato asked.

"Maybe but Sakura might notice she's gotten good at that kind of thing," Ino told them. "Plus with Naruto in there you never know what he might pick up. Plus who would we go as?"

Laughter got their attention as they looked to see Naruto and Sakura laughing about something as they were talking while waiting for their waiter to get to them.

"Damn it what did we miss?" Ino looked around trying to find a better vantage point.

"Did Naruto ever let you sigh the toad contract?" Sakurai asked Minato.

He scratched the back of his head, "Yeah...they figured it was better to be safe but the only things I can summon are tadpoles at the moment." He saw the looks he was getting from both girls. "Hey it's hard!"

"Is someone out there?" They all heard a patron by their window ask out loud. Both women turned to glare at Minato as the boy cringed. He hadn't meant to yell that last part out so loud.

"Crap run for it before they send someone to look!" Ino hissed at them the three quickly left the bush before a waiter or someone found them and caused them some trouble.

When Naruto and Sakura finally left the restaurant the sun was getting ready to set, Naruto told her that he had a special thing to show her which had her interested in what he had planned. So far the dinner had been really nice between them, very comfortable and enjoyable. Walking with him she then noticed something in the corner of her vision. At first she thought it was nothing as Naruto started talking about something but her focus was behind them.

It took a few minutes but finally she caught the movement from the building tops, while trying not to turn her head too much she had managed to angle her vision just enough to catch a flash of three people. They were obviously being followed but when she got long pink and blonde hair it didn't take her long to figure out who it might be.

"Naruto we have company," Sakura told him.

"Huh?"

"Try not to look directly but the building behind us to the left with the green tiles on it."

Naruto did as Sakura had done and noticed them too. He frowned as this was something he wanted a bit more privacy for but soon a plan got into his head. He grinned as he gently took Sakura's arm as the girl nearly jumped in surprise at the touch.

"Hurry this way," He led her down a side alley in a quick turn. When they were out of sight that's when Naruto made a familiar seal as dozens of clones suddenly filled the small area. "Okay guys you know the plan."

"You got it boss," They all said as half turned into what Naruto was wearing while the other half turned into a copy of Sakura.

The real Sakura grinned knowing what he was planning as the clones started to go out both ends of the alleyway. "So we just move out with them then." She asked the real Naruto at least she was sure it was she hadn't taken her eyes off him as soon as the clones showed up. He was too good with switching out clones with himself so you had to pay very close attention.

"You got it Sakura-chan." He grinned.

The three little spies had seen them go down into the alleyway as the three of them were about to jump to the next building worried that they might have been spotted. That was when the area was soon flooded with a lot of Sakura and Naruto copies.

"Crap they saw us," Ino muttered as she sighed and sat down, looking at Minato hopefully that since they had someone that could think like Naruto he might have a plan. "You have any idea which are the real ones?"

"Uh...not really...we could just hit them all," he offered as both girls sighed.

"Well I think this is a bust," Ino told them looking at all the clones. "We'll never find them."

A growl from her stomach made the older girl blush watching Naruto and Sakura have a meal had reminded her how she hadn't eaten yet. Then two more growls were heard as these were not from her as she looked at the two younger clones.

She gave a lopsided grin at them, "Well since we won't find them you two want to get something to eat?"

Sakurai sighed in defeat, "Might as well."

"Yeah," Minato agreed a little disappointed he wouldn't see how it all ended. He was getting some good tips so far well maybe he could ask Naruto later when it was all over.

Awhile later Sakura found herself on top of the Hokage monument although she wondered why Naruto was bringing her up here she was also thinking she might have a talk with her best friend and Sakurai later about privacy issues.

"You know I don't think we're allowed up here after a certain time right?" She told him.

Naruto just smiled and waved it off, "Naw it's okay I come up here all the time and on ones complained. Besides Baa-chan won't mind if I'm up here I bet."

"Unless you paint the monument again," she grinned.

Naruto grinned at that, "Yeah that was my best and last major prank on the village. I can't believe that worked, you know I had to get up a five in the morning to set it all up? It took me a week to plan it out to make sure there were no patrols round when I set everything up."

Sakura had always wondered how he had gotten away with that, you'd think that someone dressed in bright orange painting the giant stone faces that overlooked the entire village would be something the night patrols would have seen. Naruto stopped on one of the heads by looking around she noticed it was the Fourth's head, the stone head of Naruto's father.

"You know growing up I always looked up to the Fourth the most out of all the Hokages," Naruto told her in a slightly somber tone. "Whenever I had a bad day I would sometimes come up here and just sit on his head. Sometimes I just talked about my problems to it, I know it was silly but I felt better sometimes just talking."

"I never really understood why I liked it here, well not until recently of course," He chuckled trying to put on a happy face.

Sakura looked at him with a slightly saddened expression she knew how lonely he had been growing up. Something she wished she could have changed if she could.

"Hey don't make that face," He told her. "I'm over all of that plus I don't want to ruin what I'm going to show you."

"Show me what?" Sakura looked out and saw the village but nothing much else.

He smiled holding out his hand to her as she looked at it for a moment before taking it as he gently guided her next to him.

"I found this out the first time I was up here," He said softly as he looked over the village.

Sakura looked at as well as she noticed the sun slowly setting just as it got low in the sky where the sun was just starting to kiss the horizon. It bathed the village in the golden light, now that the village had a bowl like appearance it took on a very unique appearance to Sakura. She had never seen the village like this, it looked so peaceful and beautiful to her.

This was her home and in that moment she didn't think she could have loved it anymore than in that moment.

Naruto saw the look in her beautiful green eyes and knew that she felt what he felt in that first moment he saw it. He remembered that moment when he saw the village not as a place that seemed cold to him but a place that he lived and full of possibilities. Coming up here now and looking at the village as it was now always made him want to protect it even more.

"It's beautiful Naruto." She told him looking out over every inch of the village before the sun got too low.

Naruto looked at her as she too was bathed in the light of the sunset she brushed some of her hair back and in that moment Naruto felt his heart in his throat at how great she looked now. He wished he could capture that moment forever but he knew it wouldn't last so he just drank in every moment he could.

"Yeah it's the second most beautiful thing I've seen." He said.

Sakura flashed her eyes to him and noticed that he was looking at her she blushed realizing what he meant by that. She quickly turned away thankful the sun had finally set so the growing dark could hide her expression.

After that the two slowly made their way down the mountain. Although it was getting dark Naruto knew his way around the paths given that he had been up and down the mountain so many times it was almost like a second home to him. Eventually they decided to call it a night as Naruto walked Sakura home.

As they walked back to her home they both fell into a very comfortable silence as both were just enjoying each other's company. Sakura had to admit that she had a good time and she had been surprised by it. Naruto had been good company and had seemed to have put a lot of thought into the night. Plus she would never forget how the village looked in the afternoon light like that. She felt a bit of a chill from the night air as she started to rub her arms a bit it wasn't too cold but it was a little uncomfortable.

Naruto noticed this and remembered something from a film he saw, it was one of the Princess Gale movies which he still enjoyed a lot. In one of the scenes the guy put his coat over the girl when she was cold. Well his jacket was kind of light but it would do as he slipped it off and placed it on her shoulders. He wasn't sure if he should say something or not but he couldn't think of anything.

Sakura was surprised by his gesture and looked to see him scratching his nose looking a little unsure but she smiled to herself it was a nice gesture. She held it close to her and she could feel his warmth still on it in fact she could still smell him on his jacket. By the time she got to her door she was surprised that she wished they could just walk a little more, just a bit more time would be nice.

"Well I guess we're here," Naruto said also a bit disappointed that it ended but overall it had been a good night. "I had a good time Sakura-chan and although I know you said this was only a onetime thing, well I wanted you to know that this night has been great. It's been better than I imagined it and will be one of my best memories."

Sakura wasn't sure what she could say to that in fact she couldn't at the moment because looking into his blue eyes she could see how much it meant to him. She felt so confused and conflicted now that she didn't know what else to do. For so long Naruto had been a friend but being with him tonight had felt a bit more than that. She gave him his jacket back and when he reached it she didn't let go at first. She wanted to but something stopped her from letting it go as she looked to see his confused look something in her was urging her to do something anything in this moment.

"I...I had a good time too so, well..." She let go of his jacket and to both of their surprise she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "T-thanks for tonight, goodnight!" She quickly said before going through the front door and closing it behind her. She pressed her back against the door as she placed her hands on her face.

'_What did I just do? Why did I k-kiss him like that!?'_ She mentally cried out but through her palms she could feel the heat on her face and the small smile on her lips. She also felt a warm feeling in her chest and found herself liking this feeling.

Naruto stood there frozen in place since the kiss, although it had been just on the cheek that was still her lips that had kissed him. He swallowed hard as she tried to say goodnight in return but found himself stuck as he was. Slowly his hand reached up to his cheek where he could feel the lingering warmth where her lips had touched him. He slowly got on a big goofy smile as he walked off home his hand on his cheek the entire time.

"Best night ever," he said to himself with the biggest smile on his face.

**Next up Chapter 14: My Own Path**

**For those wondering 'anko' can also mean sweetened red bean paste also as a side note mitarashi is also a type of dango. Guess that's why Anko from Naruto likes that food, her name is literally the food she eats lol.**

**Anmitsu is also a dessert with red bean paste, jelly with pieces of fruit. I got these when I found a wiki Naruto site that gave Sakura's favorite foods.**


	14. My Own Path

**AN: Apparently there is no official name or gender for Kurenai's child, the creator said he would like to make it a girl so I'd go with that for now. **

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 14: My Own Path**

Sakura was currently on a break from her shift at the new hospital, she had been tasked to help teach a class for some new medics. It was actually kind of nice teaching a group of people that looked up to her, not only was she the Hokage's student but she had saved a lot of lives in the war. She held one of the top three survival ratings for medics in the war, although she never found that out until someone told her. She never cared about the statistics because for her, a life was a life to be saved and putting it to just numbers cheapened things for her.

She had also been glad for the distraction as she was currently sitting alone in an outdoor cafe although she was eating a meal she wasn't really into it. She thought about how that morning her mother had been smiling at her the entire time she had been home and had been asking her things like how her time with Naruto had been. She even commented on the flowers that were still in a vase as Sakura tried to evade the questions. Plus she had caught Sakurai before she left that morning and had a very long talk to her about privacy.

Although now that she was alone with her thoughts her mind kept going back to last night. She played with her dish remembering everything from the flowers, to the dinner, to being on the Hokage monument. The last thing that she seemed to focus on was that she had kissed Naruto, sure it was on the cheek but she had done it. She kept wondering why she did that, she didn't want to give him any kind of false hope but in the end she had done it without thinking. Plus the shocked face he had on had been kind of adorable, she gave a small smile at that as it felt good to know that such a simple act meant so much to him.

"Well looks like someone had a nice night."

Sakura was snapped out of her thoughts looking up to see a smirking Ino standing next to her taking an empty seat. Sakura sighed in frustration, "Don't you have more people to spy on?"

Ino chuckled nervously, "Yeah...sorry about that but come on I was dying to know what was going on! As far as I know you're the first girl in our little group of friends that got an actual date."

"What? Oh come on what about...well...Tenten?" Sakura asked as she was drawing a blank. She knew if Ino had scored a date she would have talked none stop about it. Hinata well again that was kind of a no brainer about who she wanted. Something that Sakura now found herself feeling slightly uncomfortable about which was odd. Hinata was a friend and she had never felt like that before. Tenten, well the girl was a year older so maybe she had some experience?

"Nope she's been single too," Ino and Tenten talked sometimes and Ino was surprised to find that even thought the girl was very career oriented she too wanted to find someone to date. Now it looked like Sakura had gotten a little ahead of them all slightly. "So come on this is big, I mean what did you two talk about and what happened after the dinner?"

Sakura crossed her arms, "Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'm your best friend, how about that if I got a date that I'd tell you?" Ino saw nothing was working but still kept on trying. "Okay then so I can live vicariously through you then? Please, it looked like you were having fun don't tell me that Naruto screwed it up at some point."

"No he didn't, in fact he was actually very good." Sakura felt the need to defend Naruto in this it had been a good date and didn't want Ino to think that Naruto had ruined things.

"So come on what did he do?" Ino pleaded again. "Come on I'll pay for dessert."

Sakura was on the fence but she knew that Ino wouldn't let this go so with a sigh Sakura went to explain what had happened. The dinner had been actually really nice, Naruto started off by asking her how her day was going and how things with Sakurai were. That had been nice as she asked him about Minato, it was still a little odd having them around but by this point both of them were enjoying having them. Sakura as an only child felt like she now had a little sister in a way.

It didn't hurt that Sakurai reminded Sakura of herself at that age so maybe she could help the younger girl with certain things, Sakura wished she had an older sister to have gone to when she had been that age. A few things might have turned out differently.

Sakura then went on to explain how they talked about some of the happier times like when they tried to see under Kakashi's mask and failed, or the times they tried to teach Sai how to be around people. They talked about more normal things that happened in the day as well. Naruto told her a story about how the first time he used the washing machine in his new place he had overloaded it. She laughed at how he described the flooding and how he kept saying it wasn't his fault as he was more used to his older one which was different.

Sakura then told Ino when she and the other two got caught and Naruto's little plan.

"Okay that's when you ditched us to what happened after?" Ino asked.

Sakura was wondering how much she should say after all Naruto had really opened up to her and if she was honest she didn't want to share that moment. "Well we went for a walk around the village although he was kind of sweats when I got cold and he placed his jacket on me."

Ino's eyebrows shot up at that, "Really? Well that's classic date stuff but still I like it, it shows that your comfort was important to him. Damn he really went all out, so what happened when you got him, did he walk you back?"

"Y-yeah he did," she blushed trying to ignore the memory of the kiss but Ino noticed it.

"Oh something happened," Ino grinned.

"Nothing happened!"

"You're blushing even more now, come on if you can't trust me who can you trust?"

Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her seat the trust was she could use someone else to talk to about it, if only so that she could get a handle of how she was feeling.

"I might have...given him a kiss on the cheek," she muttered the last part.

"Seriously?" Ino didn't know that Sakura had it in her although it was on the cheek and not on the lips. "I bet that made his week."

"Ino!"

"What? You know it would, heck if you had kissed him on the lips he might have passed out," Ino joked.

"It's not funny," Sakura went on to explain to her why she didn't think it was funny. Sakura knew that Naruto liked her but she didn't want to get his hopes up. Plus she didn't know why she had kissed him to being with. She was actually not sure how to even act around Naruto after that and was glad she hadn't seen him all day just because she had been trying to get her thoughts in order.

Ino listened patiently to the whole story before speaking, "You know have you ever considered that maybe you actually like Naruto back?"

"W-what?"

"Think about it you had a good time right? Well would dating him be so bad if it was like that all the time?"

Sakura had to pause as she never thought about more dates with Naruto, of course she knew that the date they had one was one that Naruto had planned out for who knew how long but still what would other dates be like? Too bad she didn't have much in the way of dating experience her first date had been her only date.

Ino went on seeing Sakura in thought, "Look I'm your best friend and honestly you look really happy. I know we both had to get over Sasuke." She paused as both girls knew how that old wound stung but after the war they both felt like they could finally move on.

"So why not start looking for someone else? I'm still trying to find a decent guy and Naruto is one of the best. The only reason I haven't gone after him is because he's more of a friend plus he's totally into you that making him look at another girl but how long do you think he'll wait around for you?"

"In case you hadn't noticed he's become one of the biggest singles guys around, being the hero of the village and looked up to by everyone he's gotten a lot of attention. Plus there are already at least two girls after him. If he wasn't so dense he'd have noticed, plus don't act like it doesn't bother you, I've seen you when Karin keeps trying to come onto Naruto."

Sakura did feel a knot in her stomach about Karin going after Naruto. She wasn't sure why, yes Karin had worked with both Orochimaru and later Sasuke but she had only joined Sasuke because she had fallen for him something neither she nor Ino could fault her for. Plus since the end of the war Karin had slowly been proving herself to the village. But still she just couldn't get along with the girl it was like the old rivalry she had with Ino.

Given that whole thing had been over a boy they both liked, Sakura didn't like where that train of thought was going given Naruto was in the center of that again.

Ino could see that Sakura was still thinking about things and sighed the girl really needed to be more honest with herself and less stubborn she would be a lot happier if she was. Ino pushed herself up and smoothed out her skirt. "Look I just want to see you happy but if Naruto gets snagged up by another girl and alter you decide that maybe giving him a change would have been a good thing. You have no one to blame but yourself."

Sakura watched the blonde go as she looked back at her dish, she pushed it away no longer feeling very hungry at the moment.

**-Elsewhere-**

Sakurai had a little training with Kakashi today with Minato since he had time off and decided to see how they were coming along. Minato seemed to be getting somewhere but Sakurai had been improving physically she didn't think she wanted to go into medical field like Sakura had. Oh sure there were those that most likely expected her to go into it simply because she was Sakura's clone, yes the Haruno family treated her like another daughter and not just a clone but if she did everything that Sakura did then she would be nothing more than just a clone.

Such as were her thoughts as they had taken a break from taijutsu training, Sakurai was sitting against a tree thinking about her life and where she wanted to take it. She had the opportunity to do something that Sakura didn't try out. She just needed an idea of what path she wanted to follow, she could try something physical but that didn't feel right to her. Ninja tools were an option, maybe something for stealth or even tracking. But none of them felt right either, she needed something that would play to her strengths.

"Hey what are you doing?"

Sakurai hadn't realized she had closed her eyes as she was deep in thought and when she opened them noticed Minato's face which was a little too close for comfort. All those confusing feelings and thoughts always occupied her mind when he was too close like this and she needed to stay clear headed.

"You're too close," she panicked and pushed him away honestly did he never know what personal space was?

"Uh oh sorry about that," he scratched the back of his head and sat down in front of her. "You just looked like you were really into thinking about something."

"Yeah I was," she sighed.

"Well what was it?"

She leaned back against the tree the thing was that he was most likely the only person that could really understand where she was coming from. It made it a little easier to open up to him because of that, in the months that they had been working together she felt more at ease with him. At first her impression of him was clouded because of Sakura's memories of that time of Naruto but she had been trying to move forward and see things herself and not have memories of another woman get in the way.

"I was trying to think of what kind of ninja I wanted to be," she told him honestly. "I don't want to become just another Sakura and I want to do something that's my own and not just following her."

Minato looked a little surprised at that as his face got a little more serious, "Yeah I kind of get that too, I've been thinking what can I do to make myself more, well me you know?"

In a strange way she did as she nodded.

"I remember how Konohamaru used to get mad because everyone called him 'honorable grandson' they only saw him as the Old Man's grandkid and not as himself." Minato remembered that day from the memories that were from Naruto. Thinking back he was now in that kid's position although Konohamaru had grown out of that role which was something that Minato found himself happy to see.

"Yes but aren't you learning a few things from Naruto anyway?" Sakurai asked him thinking about the summoning and rasengan training.

Minato scratched the back of his head, "Well those are cool...plus he says that since I'm basically family I should learn those techniques too. Naruto said he wants to make those kind of a family jutsus thing and I really want to learn that, I never had anything like that like most of the others have."

Sakurai nodded her head in understanding she didn't come from a family of ninja like everyone else in their class had been. All of them had always had family jutsus that they could learn or special clan abilities or techniques. So for Minato she could relate to him wanting to learn stuff like that, sure she herself could learn from Sakura but again it just didn't feel right to her.

"So after that what do you plan on trying to learn?" Sakurai asked him.

Minato paused a moment before slumping slightly down, "I have no idea what about you?"

She sighed, "I'm stuck on that too."

The two sat there in silence as they tried to think of what they could do for their life as a ninja. Although there were plenty of paths to take they wanted to play to their strengths the trouble was they weren't sure what they were. As they were lost in thought Kakashi came over to check in on them, they had been a little too quiet and getting closer he could see that they were thinking about something.

"You two look to be thinking about something serious, anything you care to share?" Kakashi asked lazily.

Sakurai looked up at him, "We were wondering about what our strengths were since we wanted to train in them Kakashi-sensei. We don't want to do what Naruto and Sakura did growing up but we weren't sure what we can do differently. Do you have any ideas?"

She hoped that Kakashi would have a better idea on what they could possibly train in after all he knew the level they were at and would know their strengths better being a jonin sensei that worked with both of them and Naruto and Sakura.

Kakashi thought about it as he liked the initiative they were showing about this. Thinking what he knew personally about these two. So far Sakurai seemed to have the same chakra control as Sakura did at that age although he had noticed something else. Sakurai seemed to have a larger chakra pool than Sakura did at that age. He thought that might have something to do with the Fox's chakra that was inside of her given that both young ninja seemed to have more energy than Sakura and Naruto did at that age.

But then he could just be getting old he thought to himself.

"Well I take it you don't want to get into medicine then?" Kakashi asked her seeing her nod. "Well with your chakra control the next thing I would recommend might be genjutsu. It does require a lot of control but you do have potential for that."

"Can you teach me that Kakashi-sensei?" she asked eager to try it out. She knew the basics of genjutsu like how to dispel it from the academy but she had never gotten any real training in that.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, "Sorry I'm better at detecting and dispelling genjutsu than actually using it." He told her which was mostly due to his sharingan eye, with it he could see through genjutsu easily. The problem was that even though he had mastered many things with it, using genjutsu wasn't one of them. He only knew of a couple of hypnotic abilities with the eye and that was it.

There had been some Uchiha like Itachi who had mastered the genjutsu abilities of the sharingan but Kakashi had always been more of a straight up fighter.

"I would suggest a genjutsu expert like Kurenai if you really wanted to learn that."

Sakurai remembered Kurenai she used to lead Team 8 from her 'other' memories. She remembered the red eyed woman a little. If she was a genjutsu user she would have to track her down and see if she could get the woman to train her. It was at least a place to start and she resolved to get started as soon as they were done for the day.

Kakashi saw the young girl thinking about it, he picked out Kurenai's name for a reason. After the birth of her daughter she had been pretty much changed her career from being an active ninja to working out at the academy as a teacher. He didn't blame her after all she was a single mother and had her child to think about as she had already lost Asuma. Kakashi felt a sense of loss when he remembered that man and his ever present smoking. Things had been too busy first with dealing with Akatsuki and later Madara and Obito and the war. They all had to spend the last year catching their breaths and healing after everything.

He figured that maybe taking on a new protégé might help the woman heal in other ways. Plus from what he heard she was enjoying teaching so maybe this might just work out. Now looking at Minato that was a bit of another issue mainly because Minato's skill set seemed to mirror Naruto's just too much.

"Well..." Kakashi thought about it, "There are a few things you could try out. I mean you could try ninja weapons and tools, or you could try your hand at traps. Maybe you could specialize in taijutsu?" Although if Minato did choose that route to take, Kakashi hoped that Lee and Gai wouldn't make him wear those god awful green jumpsuits. To this day Kakashi wasn't sure where on earth Gai got those things it wasn't like they sold them in stores at least none of the ones Kakashi went in.

"Hmmm, maybe," Minato thought about it trying to get a feel for any of those.

Kakashi thought about it in more detail, "Well although Naruto never tried his hand at it I guess you could try Fuinjutsu. You know the sealing arts," he offered.

"Why that?" Minato asked honestly.

"Well both Minato and Kushina were masters at it, in fact Kushina Uzumaki taught him a few things as well. Now just because they knew it doesn't mean you might have a talent for it but it's something to try out. After all sealing techniques can be very useful if you know how to use them properly."

Minato's eyes lit up as he thought about that, learning about those kinds of techniques but then he frowned not sure where to even start with something like that. Kakashi could see the boy's expression and had a guess on what had the boy down.

"If you want I can get a hold of some beginner scrolls with a manual on them, if you show that you got some experience I can later look for some more advanced things if you want." Kakashi told him.

"Really?" Minato looked up eager to get started.

Kakashi chuckled the way the boy said it brought back memories of a group of genin fresh out of the academy. Sometimes he missed those days when things were so simple but he had slowly been learning to stop looking back. He had spent too much time locked in the past so maybe it was time to move on forward. "Tell you what when we're done I'll help you get the supplies and you can try it out."

"You bet, this is going to be great!"

Kakashi smiled and then looked to Sakurai, "You're welcome to come too if you want."

"No thanks I think I have something I need to do first." She told him and Kakashi nodded in understanding.

The training continued on for a couple more hours before Kakashi called it a day, he told them both to shower up as he made plans to pick up Minato in an hour to take him to a store that Kakashi knew which was perfect. Apparently not only would it have the basic research material he would need but also the practical stuff such as paper, ink and brushes. This would help for Minato to practice what he learned. Sakurai waved goodbye as she quickly went home to shower and change.

It felt good to get all the sweat and grime off her and into some fresh clothing, even after all the training she felt energized. She felt that she finally got something she could do that she would be able to call her own. That was important to her as most of her clothing were just Sakura's old clothing that their mother had managed to save. Shopping for new clothing would be another item she would have to get too at some point.

Then she went to the Hokage building, many never thought what the entire building contained. One of them was the ninja registry office. It was the office that stored all your personal information in the building, things like where you lived and net of kin were important for ninja. When you died on a mission and your family had to be notified it was best to know where they could be located. Sakurai entered the large building as she found a map on one of the walls that told you where certain places could be found.

Some of course were not labeled since if you didn't know where something was located you didn't need to know where it was. All the more public areas were located on the first floor as she found the office number. As soon as she opened the door she found a small room barely enough for a few people, where were chairs set to one wall and a door across from her. There was a sliding window with a chunin working the office. Behind the man working there she could see rows of cabinets.

He looked up looked up a little bored, "How can I help you?"

"I need the current access for Kurenai Yuhi," Sakurai told him.

He nodded and brought out a form, "Okay I'll need your full name, your ninja ID to confirm your identity."

Sakurai knew she would need her ID and pulled it out as she showed him it, even though she was a Konoha ninja this was personal information she was gaining. After the form was filled out she went back and found the file. He pulled it down and looked at it as he wrote down the address for her. All the files couldn't be removed from this room so this was the only way she could keep the information. With the slip of paper in hand she thanked him before leaving.

Now the problem was actually finding the place, given the village had been remodeled she had to relearn the village. Even after all this time she was learning some of the new street locations and there were some new street names that hadn't existed back in the time she remembered. After asking directions a few times she eventually found the right street. Looking at the slip of paper she found the number of her home and found a nice little two story home painted a light blue.

It was set between other homes but Sakurai noticed that there was a little balcony on the second floor with flowers growing on it. It was close to the park as well the place seemed like a nice neighbourhood for raising a family. Taking a breath Sakurai walked up to the door and raised a hand to knock but stopped herself.

She had been going through her mind on what would happen if Kurenai said no to her request as she had all kinds of counter arguments but in the end if she didn't want to take on a student than Sakurai wasn't sure who else she could turn to. Of course there were other genjutsu users but Kurenai was supposed to be the expert for the village. Steeling herself she knocked on the door and waiting hoping she was home.

That would be a joke on her, she spent all the time tracking her down and worrying about what to say and she wasn't even home. But soon she heard footsteps as the door opened up, Sakurai looked up to see the woman in front of her. She only had a few memories of the woman but up close she still looked very beautiful. Her long dark hair framed her face as her red eyes looked down at her interested in what this young girl wanted.

Sakurai could see one eyebrow raised up slightly before it was put down again obviously Kurenai knew who she was in fact it would be surprising if anyone didn't know who she or Minato were at this point. Sakurai shifted slightly on her feet as she wasn't sure how to even start. All that time thinking about it and she froze slightly in the moment it counted as Kurenai looked down at her the woman got a slightly amused look on her face.

"Can I help you with something?" Kurenai asked her with a gentle smile on her face.

**Next up Chapter 15: Please Train Me!**


	15. Please Train Me!

**AN: Apparently there is no official name or gender for Kurenai's child, the creator said he would like to make it a girl so I'd go with that for now. **

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 15: Please Train Me!**

"I want to be trained in Genjutsu by you," When Sakurai had said those words she had planned for all kinds of responses. Although Kurenai's expression showed curiosity as she looked down at her. There was a moment of silence as she opened the door more and invited her inside. Sakurai was filled with hope as she walked into the small home.

Looking around the place was done in warm colors and had a very lived in air to it all. There were small plants here and there as well mostly flowers in small pots. She noticed little other details as it was a very feminine home but then it was just Kurenai and her child from what she remembered. There was a small photo she noticed when she was led into the living room. It was small but it was placed on a table right in its center as though it was important.

It was a picture of Kurenai with Asuma, presumably back when they were dating. They looked so happy in that image with him behind her holding her close to him with an arm wrapped around her waist. Although Sakurai only looked at it for a moment she couldn't help but think about how things had turned out. They had looked so happy together in that picture but he had been killed years ago.

She had memories of Asuma, not many but she had a few and he had seemed like a good man. From talking to others like Ino she had learned how he had never even gotten to see his child born into the world.

Sakurai was sat down on a couch as Kurenai took a seat across from her after she got some tea ready. Sakurai felt nervous as she shifted in her seat but she really wanted this to be trained in something that she could use as her own skills in life. Kurenai gently placed the tea set down as she poured Sakurai a cup and handed it to her.

Sakurai graciously took it as she felt Kurenai's fingers touch hers for a moment then took a smell of the tea. It smelt pretty good to her as she took a sip, it was warm and not too hot and tasted nice enough.

Kurenai took her own sip before looking at the young pink haired girl. "So Sakurai was it? Why do you want to learn genjutsu from me?"

Sakurai inhaled as she prepared to speak. "I want to be someone other than just Sakura's clone, I don't want to live her life but I want to life my own life. I want to try to make my own path and not follow hers, Sakura already had done a lot and I just don't want to copy her as sometimes that's what I feel like I am, just a copy."

She looked down into her tea feeling those feelings of doubt about who she was. She hated feeling like that she was a living breathing person but it was so hard to even feel like a person sometimes knowing her origins.

"I thought about what I could be good at and wanted to be my own person from now on, I wanted to change myself and find out just who Sakurai Haruno is."

Kurenai was impressed with how the young girl was she wasn't sure just how someone would handle knowing that one day they woke up to everything changing and finding out you weren't who you thought you were. She could see in the young girl's eyes the pain of being so lost in life. Maybe it was a bit of her motherly nature that wanted to reach out to the girl but so far only one part of the question had been answered.

"I can see why you would want to do that but again, why me and why genjutsu?"

"Well," Sakurai shifted again, "I wanted to think of something I could be good at and I still have really good chakra control I'm told something that is good to have for genjutsu."

Kurenai nodded, "Indeed it is because genjutsu is a very subtle art. Sometimes you have to change things ever so slightly so that no one knows that they were ever put into a genjutsu while other times it has to be so powerful and elaborate that to great the more powerful ones requires a lot of concentration."

"Sometimes you even have to build them in your mind in a split second and it's not for everyone."

Sakurai nodded, "I know the theory about it but not much else, Kakashi-sensei only knows how to get out of genjutsu and after reading up on it I wanted to be trained by the best and everyone in Konoha knows that you are the best Kurenai-sensei."

Kurenai smiled a little although she hadn't been active in sometime it was nice to know her reputation hadn't suffered.

"Do you really think you have what it takes to master genjutsu Sakurai?" Kurenai said in a more serious tone. "You have to be totally aware of your environment, you have to remember all kinds of details and a battle within genjutsu has been known to send people into mental collapse as high level battles have left some unable to tell reality from the illusion."

This was a deadly truth about this style of combat when you messed with someone's head you could break a person's mind if they were too weak willed and two genjutsu users fighting it out you could be lose among the different illusions used. Kurenai remembered her own battle against Itachi, it was the only battle she had to admit total defeat in. He had shown her a level she knew she wasn't capable of doing and in truth that battle had always scared her of how easily he had turned her own genjutsu against her.

"Think about it," Kurenai told her.

Sakurai paused to think as she thought about it, she did want to learn something that she could do plus she wanted to do something that would set her apart of Sakura. She really did want to learn and she wasn't afraid of danger after all she had chosen the life of a ninja. She and Minato could have done something else but this was who they were and they couldn't just walk away from it all. It was then that something that had been nagging Sakurai for awhile slowly started to make her think.

Something was 'off' she couldn't put her finger on it at first but something seemed...different.

Kurenai almost looked like she was expecting something from her but not an answer almost like something else. Kakashi's words of looking underneath the underneath came to mind since as a ninja they shouldn't take things at face value. As she cast a look around she noticed something, the coloring of the walls was a colder tone now.

She was sure the place had more of a warm feeling to it in fact she was certain when she walked in she noticed that. She looked at things and saw the picture of Azuma was now replaced with a new image. Suddenly some of Kurenai's words of always being on alert and the little details came to her mind. The woman was testing her, Sakurai was in a genjutsu but the question was when could it have happened?

She looked at her tea and suddenly remembered when Kurenai's fingers touched hers that had to be it when they touched Kurenai sent a jolt of her own chakra into Sakurai's body to place the genjutsu that had to be it. Sakurai put down the tea and put her hands into a seal.

"Kai," she stopped her chakra for a moment and then put in a larger amount of her own to overcome the weak genjustu that had been placed on her.

Kurenai smiled as she looked at the girl she had passed that test a bit faster than she expected not everyone can past that kind of test as it was used to help weed out those that might not have any talent for genjustu as subtly was a very major factor in training in this art.

"Very good I'm glad you passed the test," she told the young girl. She needed to see what kind of skills Sakurai had so she had just placed a very low level genjutsu on the girl. The fact that she not only saw it but also cancelled it showed Kurenai that the girl might have some talent for it.

Back when she trained her young team she had given them all a test in genjutsu to see if any of them had any talents, sadly none of them had the abilities she had been looking for, poor Kiba hadn't even noticed until an hour into it. Thinking back on those days she kind of missed them, it was why she took on a teaching job at the academy she enjoyed teaching others. That and it let her take care of her daughter as well as make sure that her daughter grew up with at least one parent.

But taking on a student like this was much different than a classroom and she hadn't taught individuals in several years. In fact her old team had just out grown her to the point that they no longer needed her and a part of Kurenai missed that. She missed the one on one lessons and slowly shaping someone into a ninja. In the classroom it was more general ad broad that Kurenai sometimes wished she could have more one on one time with the students.

Looking at the girl in front of her brought back some nostalgia about Hinata, the young girl had grown up to be a great ninja but when she had first started out Hinata had been seemed so small and frail. Kurenai was proud of how the young girl had grown as she was of both Kiba and Shino. Looking at Sakurai maybe Kurenai thought that she saw someone that could one day take her place as the greatest genjustu user.

After all Sakura was most likely to replace Tsunade and if Sakurai had that kind of potential well things could get interesting to have her own protégé.

"I'll see about Konohamaru taking on some babysitting duty since he loves helping me out with his cousin and we can start your training tomorrow afternoon if you want."

Sakurai's eyes lit up, "Really?"

Kurenai nodded with a kind smile, "Yes really."

"Thank you very much Kurenai-sensei!" Sakurai couldn't wait to see how things turned out tomorrow.

**-Uzumaki Apartment-**

Minato was in his room on the floor trying hard to read through the instruction scroll he had been given by Kakashi. His room was more furnished now, with a decent bed, dresser and some more clothing although he still couldn't find any more of those orange jumpsuits. He only had the one and he was forced to buy other clothing mainly orange and black. There were few personal objects though since he There was however a poster for a Princess Gale movie, he loved those films and he remembered that Naruto had actually met the actress Yukie Fujikaze or was it Princess Koyuki Kazahana of the Land of Snow now? He'd have to ask Naruto one day whatever happened to her and that land. Still the movie poster was from a film he hadn't seen and he hoped that maybe he could talk Sakurai into seeing one.

The floor was now littered with scrolls, papers which were either blank, some that had practiced markings on it and others that were crumpled up in a small pile. Minato was taking a long look at the instructions for how to seal simple items. Kakashi had given him some pointers but told him that in the end seal masters ended up making seals partly by instinct and personal experience. Almost like how an artist could draw a picture.

He did give a few pointers to get him started before Kakashi had to leave so far he was trying to just get the basics down. In front of him was a sheet of paper with a circle and the seal script written on it. He placed a kunai onto the circle as he double checked to make sure everything was correct.

"Okay this should do it...this time," He muttered to himself this was his tenth try. Apparently you needed to be careful of how much chakra you put into it, the larger the object and the more powerful the jutsu the more chakra you needed. Minato's problem was that he had trouble being as subtle with his chakra as what was needed. Kind of like the same problem he had with the summoning jutsu but Naruto said all it would take is practice to get it down.

He took a breath as he tried to concentrate and placed just a little chakra into the paper, if he did it too little it wouldn't work too much and well, there were a few pieces of paper that were warped from too much chakra to even the seals looking almost like they had been burned.

Minato put in his chakra and suddenly there was a small puff of smoke he looked down to see that the kunai was gone and how a kanji for kunai was inside of the circle.

"Yes!" Minato cried out feeling a sense of accomplishment he then placed his hand over the seal and once again put in just a little chakra as the kunai popped into existence. He picked it up and fell onto his back with a sigh. He had managed to do it finally, now all he needed was to get it to the point of doing it every time then he could move on to bigger things. He read up on a few things he could do in a book Kakashi gave him. Things like barriers or the ability to seal someone's ninjutsu technique if it was send at him. Plus who knew what other things he could think up or learn?

Minato smiled at he held up the kunai over head looking at it, it was a small step but it was still a step forward. Since the day he and Sakurai work up today in this moment he finally felt like his life was taking root. He wanted to put it into words but in this moment of accomplishment he felt like his 'life' was finally starting.

He placed the weapon on the ground next to him looking up at the ceiling thinking about his life at this moment. Ever since waking up to this strange new world he had been trying to find his place in it but slowly day by day he was building a place for himself. The new home was better than the old one and with Naruto here it didn't feel as lonely as he remembered life being. There was a lot to get used to but there was also a lot to see and explore. He didn't care what his origins were or how he came to be, he was here now and he was going to live his life because he was alive.

He wasn't some just some kind of clone he felt he was his own person and he would prove to the world and to himself that he despite being a clone he was still unique.

Sitting up he stretched out smiling feeling proud of himself as his mind wondered to what Sakurai was doing now. She had been acting a little strange lately mainly from when, well the memory of himself on top of her and of what they had been doing caused him to blush. He could still remember how soft her skin felt and now nice she smelled too. Well okay looking back on that moment he could see why she might be awkward around him now.

But he didn't want things to be awkward he wanted to get closer to her, he knew that maybe his feelings might be just because of the memories he had about Naruto in his head but honestly he didn't care. Sakurai was still very cute and honestly he always admired how smart she was, he wished he could have been that smart but unless it was something interesting he had a hard time focusing. Plus there were all the little things he liked about her.

"Man is Naruto can get a date with Sakura then I should be able to think of a way to get a date with Sakurai," he muttered to himself looking back up at the poster. "Hey wait maybe we can see one of those movies together."

The idea of them seeing a Yukie Fujikaze film as there was one playing now. Now he had to just think about how to get her to say yes. He sat there deep in thought for a few minutes before coming up with nothing. He groaned in frustration wondering how Naruto pulled it off, well he decided to go and see if he could find him and find out first hand.

**-A little Later that Day-**

Sakura had just finished up a shift at the hospital and she was looking forward to a nice restful afternoon, it had been a calm day only a few injuries from daily accidents or a few ninja that over trained. But the thing that had been on her mind all day she could no longer push aside and focus on something else. Ever since her talk with Ino her mind had been confused about Naruto or more specifically her and Naruto.

How did she feel about him, well she cared for him that much she could admit. They were close as best friends, she worried about him when he got hurt or pushed himself too hard. She liked being around him as his light hearted attitude put her at ease. Then her mind kept going over their date and she couldn't shake off how much she had enjoyed herself.

She signed as she walked aimlessly through the village she cared for Naruto but did she love him, could she love him that was the problem she wasn't sure about. Maybe she needed to talk this out with someone but who she wasn't sure. It was just by chance she walked by the ramen store and she paused. When had she walked in this direction? Her home was a different direction than here but she had a feeling she would know who to find inside.

"Oh Naruto-kun here you are!" A loud voice called out from inside and it was a voice that Sakura knew well as a slight twitch of her eyebrow told her.

Sakura walked in and she wasn't surprised to see Naruto sitting in the middle of by the looks of it, his third bowl of ramen with Karin there almost literally handing off his arm.

Naruto quickly gulped down the ramen as he smiled nervously at her. He was just in the middle of a meal when the girl showed up not that he minded her presence. In the year after the war since she joined the village Karin had slowly proven herself to the village. Plus she was always nice to him and over the year he started to consider her one of his friends.

Although the fact that she was sliding up against him did make him a little nervous as he wasn't used to such close contact with girls. He was all too well aware of her body how soft it felt against his arm and especially one soft part she was pressing against it. He could also smell her now and he wasn't sure what she wore but it smelled nice.

"Ah Karin, nice to see you again." Naruto tried to think of something to say but honestly he was caught a little off guard.

"Well it's nice to see you too," Karin said in a sweat voice locking her red eyes with his blue. "You know you and I never get to spend much time together."

"W-well things have been busy lately," Naruto did mean it with Minato his life had gotten a bit more complicated helping him out and living with someone took time to get used to.

"Well you know we're alone right now and you don't have anything planned do you?" Karin was working her way to getting a day with Naruto. Hopefully without anyone getting in the way this time given that she had seen Naruto enter here alone she figured she had her chance.

"Uh...well not really..." Naruto told her thinking about it.

Sakura could see where this was going and she didn't like it, without even thinking she stepped forward acting almost on instinct.

"Hey Naruto how are things?" Sakura said plastering a fake smile on her face. Naruto of course brightened up at seeing her while Sakura ignored the glare being sent her way by Karin. The girl looked like she was trying to make Sakura burst into flames from will power alone.

Sakura ignored it as she sat down next to Naruto on the opposite side. "I'll have one vegetable bowl." She ordered for herself giving her an excuse to stay awhile given that there was no way Naruto was finished with his meal.

"Shouldn't you be working or something?" Karin asked trying to play nice in front of Naruto but she was just barely holding it in. Of course Sakura of all people just had to show up, the one person that she didn't want near Naruto at the moment while she made her move.

"I'm done with work and I felt the need for something to eat," Sakura told her ignoring the tone but using a similar one herself.

Naruto suddenly felt like he was caught between two enemies or something. It was almost like he could feel the tension in the air although he had no idea why there was so much tension between Sakura and Karin.

"Hey Naruto!" Minato called out as he ran into the store making all three of them suddenly turn around looking at the young ninja. Naruto was thankful for the break as that uneasy feeling vanished as their focused shifted.

"Ah there you are," Minato grinned happy that the first place he checked turned out to be the correct place. Although his plan was to talk to Naruto along he wasn't sure if he could talk with the two girls with him. Karin he didn't know too well but she seemed okay but with Sakura there that might be a problem. He wanted to ask how he had gotten a date with Sakura to help him out but it might be awkward with her there plus he wanted to surprised Sakurai and girls liked to talk didn't they? At least he thought they did as he had heard that about them.

"Hey something up?" Naruto asked him as he looked to have been in a hurry.

"Um...yeah I was thinking about something and was kind of hoping to ask you about something." Minato asked a little nervous his eyes shifting to Sakura slightly. "You see I was thinking how to ask Sakurai out on a date and was kind of hoping for some advice."

That got everyone's surprise although Naruto was the first to break it as he turned around with a smile on his face. He had a feeling that Minato would go after Sakurai after all he and Minato has the same taste in girls after all. He was all too eager to help him with his love life after all Naruto had managed a date with Sakura now he just needed to work on a way to get her to go out with him again.

Sakura too had a feeling that this might show up after all Minato was just like Naruto was at that age she also remembered what had happened when they had accidentally released the Tailed Beast chakra of the Fox while in training. In fact Sakurai had been a little odd since then but she hadn't really had the time to think about it until now.

"Well what's the problem then?" Karin asked out of the blue. "Just go up to the girl and ask her out simple as that."

"But what if she says no?" Minato whined as that was his biggest fear.

"So? It's her loss then," Karin shrugged. "You can try and keep trying to get her to go out with you but you might have to pick a girl that will like you back in the end."

It was kind of a sad undertone to her words giving as she was thinking about her own past. She had spent years after Sasuke which had ended up with nothing but heartbreak. Also a damn jutsu ran through her chest nearly killing her. So when she had finally had found Sasuke again before the end of the war and had pretty much let him have it. She had needed to put her past behind her and when she had decided to stay with the Leaf she had set her eyes on someone else.

Naruto was the exact opposite of Sasuke, he was warm, kind and humorous. He could be a bit childish but she liked that part of him, he wasn't the seriously bad boy but someone she felt that she would like being around. Even now she could feel his warm chakra and she wanted to put it around her like a blanket.

"It's not that easy to just ask someone out," Sakura told her. "Does he even know what kind of date he'll take her on plus Sakurai might be a little nervous about being alone with him."

"That might be a problem," Naruto muttered as being alone would be a bit hard.

"Well I was thinking of taking her to see a movie." Minato shuffled on his feet.

"What movie?" Naruto asked and when Minato told him Naruto's eyes brightened up. "Oh man that would be great, I haven't seen one of her films since we did that mission with her right Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah it has been awhile," Sakura nodded thinking back to those days. Again that had been a mission that had turned out to be a lot more than it originally had been assigned to them. It seemed to be a pattern with their missions. Truth was she liked those films herself and there was that new film that just came out. "It would be nice to see."

Naruto's eyes widened a bit as yet again a plan formed into his mind, "Hey you said she might be nervous being alone right? Well how about she isn't alone we could all go together."

Sakura thought about it as she felt it might be something he could talk Sakurai into if she made it sound like it wasn't a date. Then she thought that she would be sitting with Naruto in a dark room where they would be together for an extended period of time. She felt herself warm up at the thought of it.

"Well then do it," Karin told Minato, "Plus if you need someone to go with you Naruto I would be happy to. I'm sure that Sakura would be too busy for that kind of thing anyway."

"Actually I'm more than free," Sakura shot back as again she felt that urge to not let this girl be alone with Naruto for too long. The way she looked at him made a part of her want to get in her face she hadn't felt this way since her younger days when she and Ino would compete over Sasuke.

"Well can't you both come?" Naruto hoped that the uneasy feeling he was getting between the two of them would go away.

"Yeah if more people come then Sakurai would most likely join in too right?" Minato hoped this would work he was already trying to make plans on making sure he would sit next to Sakurai.

Sakura and Karin shared a look and it wasn't a nice one there was one underlying feeling that they both felt when they locked eyes. There was a challenge there between them in that moment, for Sakura it really was like back when Ino and her had been rivals. In that moment she felt that she had a new rival now. For Karin she wasn't one to let someone get in her way she never would be pushed aside as she wanted to give it her all in life so she could not have any regrets.

In that moment both young women shared the same thought.

'_I won't lose to you.'_

**Next up Chapter 16: A Group Date?**

**Damn this took a lot longer to get out than I had hoped since my course load is getting heavy.**


	16. A Group Date?

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 16: A Group Date?**

Naruto wasn't sure who was more nervous himself or Minato as they got ready to meet the girls at the theatre. They had changed into more relaxed clothing, Naruto in his usual pants but went with a black t-shirt he had to a top. He didn't bother with his headband which made his already wild spiky yellow hair more wild looking. Minato had on orange and black pants with a top that was all orange except for a black swirl pattern on the front. Both boys tried to clean up nicely as they wanted to make an impression.

For Naruto this could be his chance at a second date with Sakura or at least close to it and for Minato well this was his chance to get closer to Sakurai. The young boy was a bundle of nerves as they got ready; this was his first step towards getting a full blown date with Sakurai or at least getting closer to her. Naruto had talked to him about some things to try out and not to try out. Minato went over the list in his mind.

First was to try and keep calm, don't overdue things and don't rush into things. He had to admit that he wasn't the best with patience but he would try. Plus he had to be honest with his feelings and something about complimenting her looks. It was nice having an 'older brother' to get advice from, normally he had memories of Iruka in this role but this was a bit closer. Naruto was more like family than anyone else and also he listened in on any advice he could get after all Naruto did manage to get an actual date.

Both boys eventually left eager to meet the girls at the small cinema that was in their village. When they got there they were the first to arrive. Naruto looked at the small cinema, even though their village was one of the main ninja villages the place wasn't what you would expect. It was a decent size place that showed only one film at a time and he figured it could hold a few hundred.

But it had a nice feel to it, he remembered Iruka and even the Old Man taking him to a few films. Those were good memories as he looked at the building. He didn't notice that not far away a pair of pink haired girls was coming up to them.

Minato looking around did notice and gave a large smile and waved at them. "Hey, Sakura-san, Sakurai-chan!"

Sakura smiled as she waved back while Sakurai looked a little nervous. Minato waited for them to get closer before getting a closer look at them. Sakura had her hair free of her forehead protector and in more casual clothing of a shirt, her red vest and skirt. Sakurai was wearing some new clothing a knee length red skirt and matching sleeveless shirt.

"Hey Sakurai-chan, you look really nice today," He told her trying to hide his nervousness at the moment. She really did look nice to him and he really hoped he could set it up to sit next to her.

"T-thanks Minato," Sakurai felt her cheeks heat up a little at the compliment.

"Hey Naruto," Sakura said smiling at him. "You know, I can't remember the last time we saw a movie, we've been so busy this last year with rebuilding the village and getting everything back to normal I've barely had any decent time off."

Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, "Yeah it wasn't any much better, Baa-chan kept sending me to Suna and other places to help out with the alliances, but it was nice to see Gaara and B again."

"Well that's what you get for being the big hero of the war," Sakura teased him but she knew he deserved being called a hero. Not just the village but many other villages had seen Naruto in action in the war and what he had done had made many see him as a hero for them all despite what village they were from.

He was a symbol of peace these days and so he had been sent all over the known world. She had gone along on a few of those partly to keep him out of trouble and to help out herself. She had even given lessons to medics from other villages on a few new techniques. But now they were finally having some time off and it felt nice to be here with Naruto. She didn't mind that Sakurai and Minato were here as well.

"Hey aren't we missing someone?" Minato asked.

"Oh yeah wasn't Karin supposed to be here?" Naruto looked around but didn't notice the red head just yet.

"Maybe something came up," Sakura was trying very hard to not show any kind of relief that the girl wasn't here maybe she had some luck on her side today and something did come up for Karin?

"Hey there Naruto!" Came a familiar voice that turned Sakura's hopes to dust as Karin quickly came up to him and took one of Naruto's arms in hers. "Sorry I'm late but I was trying to find a nice outfit what do you think?"

Naruto looked down with a blush as Karin had chosen a buttoned shirt top with no sleeves but he buttons were undone just enough to show a little cleavage and given how she was pressing her chest into his arm they were even more pronounced.

"Uh...yeah...you look nice," Naruto said nervously.

Sakura was nearly grinding her teeth as she had to quickly hold onto her emotions. This was a day out and she wouldn't let Karin make her ruin things. Still that ugly feeling she got as Karin hung off Naruto's arm was like acid in her stomach. She quickly stepped next to Naruto and for a moment she nearly linked her arm in his but paused as she wasn't sure if she should or not.

Then Karin quickly started to drag Naruto forward to the ticket office as Sakura quickly went with them not wanting to be left behind. Minato and Sakurai were left behind as the two blinked at the sight of the three older ninjas in front of them.

"So...are they dating?" Minato asked Sakurai with a confused look on his face.

"Who? Sakura and Naruto or him and the other girl?" Sakurai asked him back.

He just shrugged, "I don't know I was hoping you did."

"Why would I know?"

"Well I thought girls were better at knowing this kind of thing plus you live with Sakura-san right?" He honestly asked.

"You live with Naruto so why don't you know?" She placed her hands on her hip.

"Hey are you two coming?" Naruto's voice called out to them at the small ticket office in front of the main doors. The two quickly caught up to get their own tickets as the five of them entered inside. They all did the usual thing people did, went to get a drink and some popcorn as they all went into the slightly darkened movie room. There were already half the seats taken but then again the film had been out for a couple of weeks.

"You know I've never had the chance to see a movie," Karin spoke up looking around. "We didn't have any in Grass and whenever I left the village it was always on a mission so there was no time for it."

"What about when you were a Sound ninja?" Sakura asked her pointing out she had once been working for the enemy and under Orochimaru.

"Even less free time for me," Karin told her seeing where she was going but wouldn't get baited. Sakura would have to try harder as she took Naruto's arm and took him to some empty seats.

Sakura wasn't being left behind as she was right behind them. As they took their seats Naruto soon found himself with Karin on his left and Sakura on his right and the intense atmosphere he felt was starting to make him nervous. Sakurai noticed that this left her and Minato the only two seats on their end as she was getting nervous but for different reasons than Naruto. She sat next to Sakura wondering how the older girl managed to talk her into this. It had seen innocently enough but now Minato was sitting down next to her.

She shifted a little as all those confusing feelings started to rise up in her again. When she first woke up she had been so confused and lost for so long but as the weeks went by and she slowly started to get used to her new life Minato had been one of the very few things she could use as an anchor. One of the few things she could count on while she tried to find her footing.

She had been forced to spend a lot of time with him and over that time she learned to see him as how he was and not clouded by the memories of someone else or someone else. Yes he could be a little annoying and a bit too hyperactive at times but she had learned there was more to him than that.

He could be funny at times and he never gave up even when he failed at something he got right back up and kept on trying. She never noticed that before but it was kind of an admirable quality. Plus he seemed to care a lot about those close to him. Then there was the moment she would forever remember as The Incident, mainly when the other chakra in their system took over and he had been on top of her.

She felt a small blush as the memories of that were originally hazy but the more she thought about it the more clear certain parts became. One of them was the memory of his weight on her body and him kissing her neck. She could still feel the electric jolt it had given her spin and the heat that had been rising up in her in that moment. Of course there were those damn dreams too, of that moment or moments like that.

Now he she was sitting next to him at a movie, if the others weren't here than this could be considered a date. She suddenly felt very self conscious at the moment as her feet shifted under her.

Minato was glad that things worked out so far and that he was able to sit next to Sakurai. He hoped that if things went well then it would mean that maybe she would start to think that hanging out with him wouldn't be so bad. Then maybe if he got to ask her out on a date with just the two of them she might say yes. Soon the lights started to dim as the movie started to play as the place got quiet and the lights and sounds of the film filled the large room.

Naruto had to admit he was looking forward to this film after that mission he had started to look up any other films that Koyuki Kazahana had done, he preferred her Princess Gale movies the best ones out of them all. This film was the latest in that series as he sat back and was enjoying the opening scene. It started out with a big opening sequence that captivated Naruto. Princess Gale was with her team as they were inside of a large battle.

The film had Gale going up against a warlord that had taken over her kingdom when she had been off fighting in the opening scene. For some reason Naruto was reminded of the mission they had when he had met her. During the film she was split off from her friends and just when things were looking their darkest a new person entered the film. It was a male ninja that apparently had been hired to help her, at first she was distrustful but he slowly got her to warm up to him.

"You know that guy on the screen kind of looks like Naruto," Karin commented as she adjusted her glasses.

"Huh?" Naruto looked again the ninja was a bit older than him but he had blonde hair and blue eyes which would be hard to find.

"Natsuo are you sure about this?" Gale asked the ninja.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be find and that's a promise and I never break a promise," Natsuo said on screen.

The princess smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Sakura blinked at the scene on the screen and looked over at Naruto with a steady look. "Naruto, what happened between the two of you on that mission when you both were along when we were all split up?" She demanded to know given how the movie was going she couldn't help but ask. The ninja on the screen was too close to how Naruto looked and even the name was close.

Had something happened between him and the Princess? She didn't think so since he had been very young but then she remembered that autograph that Sasuke had gotten him. A picture of him in the hospital with her kissing his cheek and thinking back on it, she had been very friendly with him by the end.

"N-nothing at least I don't remember much we just talked a lot really, well I did save her a few times like from that train..." Naruto trailed off as he was surprised by what he was seeing as well.

Sakura and Karin both looking at him for a moment as the movie played out on the screen as Naruto wished he could sink into the chair at the moment. Sakurai caught a bit of what was going on but it was hard to hear over the movie. Still what had happened was before the memories she had from Sakura so she could only guess what might have happened.

She reached down for more popcorn but looked to find her bag empty, it was too bad since she still had a bit more of her drink left. She was surprised though when Minato's bag came into view, she looked over surprised at his smiling face.

"Go ahead and take some I got plenty left," He offered.

"Thanks," She told him at the sweat offer as she took some of his popcorn. He held the bag between them as they shared what was left. Eventually though when they were both captivated by the screen they had both reached in at the same time. As their bare skin touched each other it was like a spark was felt but in a good way. Both young teens jumped and locked eyes both blushing slightly. Sakurai held her eyes as she stared into Minato's blue orbs and there was a pulling sensation both of them felt.

It was like something inside of them a primal forced they were linked to, was demanding something from them. Both of them felt their bodies heat up as their breathing increased, either one of them noticed the whisker marks were slowly expanding on their faces. Both young clones felt desires for each other rising up inside of them as their faces were slowly moving towards each other.

It was Karin that noticed the sudden spike in chakra mainly from the Fox but it wasn't coming from Naruto. She looked down at the clones sitting past Naruto and Sakura. "What are you two doing?!" She demanded as quietly as possible.

That snapped the clones out of their trance as they realized how close their faces were. If they had blushed before now they were red all over as both sat back into their seats quickly.

"What's going on?" Sakura demanded to know from Karin.

"They were using that other chakra in their system," Karin told her.

Before Sakura could ask anymore there was something behind them shushing them to be quiet. Sakura looked over at them and both weren't even looking at the other as they were very quiet. She resolved to deal with that later as she couldn't do it now. Sakura was wondering if they had used the other chakra in their system what had caused it?

She sat back to try and enjoy the rest of the movie she shifted and without knowing it had placed her hand on the armrest that Naruto was using as her hand found itself on top of his. Both of them stiffened but Sakura couldn't pull her hand away, in fact she kind of liked it and decided to leave her hand on his. Naruto for his part felt his heart racing as he felt Sakura's soft skin on his own. He wasn't the only one to noticed it as Karin did as well and decided to up the stakes as she rested her head on his shoulder.

She grinned knowing that Sakura wouldn't be able to muster the courage to do the same she bet. Naruto when he felt her head froze he was really unsure what to do now but he could smell Karin's hair, it held a nice smell to it and he felt like he was caught between them. He was thankful that the rest of the film went on uneventful. Overall it had been a pretty good movie in Naruto's opinion and he couldn't wait until the next Princess Gale film was made.

The five of them got up and slowly left the cinema the crowd took some time to get through but eventually they all made it outside as Naruto stretched out. "Well that was a fun movie."

"Yeah," Minato said trying to take his mind off what had happened during it.

"I think I could use something to eat," Naruto spoke up feeling his usual desire.

"Let me guess ramen right?" Sakura said with a smirk.

Naruto grinned with a chuckle, "How did you know?"

"Please how many years have we known each other now?" She asked him. "I know you pretty well by now Naruto."

Karin took note of that, Sakura had a lot of history with Naruto and that was a major obstacle to overcome if she wanted to get closer to Naruto. The problem was she hadn't known him as long or had who knew how many experiences that Sakura had with him. It was a problem she would have to think on for later. But for now she was going to join Naruto and hopefully see what would come from it, besides she was sure Sakura was going to join him and she had plenty of his time already in her opinion.

So the five of them went to the usual ramen shop for their meal, Ayame was working the counter as her father was busy in the back preparing for the meal rush that would show up in an hour. She greeted Naruto first of course as he was their stores number one customer then went to greet the others. The five seats at the bar area were quickly filled by them all. Sakura and Karin of course took their seats on either side of Naruto.

This left the last two seats for Sakurai and Minato, the two were very self-conscious after what had nearly happened in the cinema. Minato felt extremely nervous as he had kept replaying what had early happened over and over in his mind. If Karin hadn't interrupted them what might have happened could only make his cheeks heat up at the possibility.

Sakurai was very quiet as she too was very occupied with her own thoughts on the incident.

Ayame gave them their orders as they came up as Minato and Naruto were the first to dig in of course. She giggled at how much those two were similar they ate exactly the same way. In a way it was like watching the present Naruto and his past self. It was kind of cute watching them together like that as she had countless memories of Naruto eating here.

Of course she also noticed the odd atmosphere as well when you serve as many people as she did you get to know people. There was something odd between Minato and Sakurai as both couldn't seem to meet the other's eyes. Then of course there was what was going on between Naruto, Sakura and the other girl Karin. As a woman she had a good insight into what was going on. Something odd struck her in that moment as she looked at Karin. She had come here a few times but there was something about the girl she had never heard.

"You know I've only heard your first name," Ayame asked Karin as the red head was eating. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone call you by your last name."

"Don't got one," Karin said with a shrug before continuing to eat.

"What?" Ayame blinked as the others looked on.

Karin shrugged, "I was an orphan, apparently I was found by Grass ninja when I was just a toddler. My family had been attacked in a caravan near the village and I was one of the few survivors. Apparently my parents had been killed and no one who survived knew them or if I had any family anywhere. So they took me in and named me. Since I had no family and was never really adopted I have no family name at the moment."

She knew how it sounded like a sad life but honestly it had been the only life she had known. Besides it wasn't like she had been mistreated, sure the other kids had made fun of her when she had been younger like how kids could be cruel at times. It was also one of the reasons she had no real attachments to that village and why it had been easy for her to leave it. She had long ago learned to have a thick skin about her origins and chose to not let it weigh her down in life.

"So you have no idea where you might have been from?" Minato asked her.

"Nope not even a clue," Karin told him with a shrugged. "Doesn't really matter to me plus how in the world would I even know how to figure out where my family came from? I got no bloodline to trace back and other than unique eye and hair color that's not much to go on."

"Yeah I haven't seen red hair much," Minato said thinking about it.

"Mom had red hair," Naruto said between gulps. "Apparently a lot of Uzumakis had it, we got dad's hair so sometimes I wondered what it would have been like with red hair."

"Wait Uzumakis' have red hair?" Karin asked him as something reminded her of an old memory. "I think back in the war when the Hokages were brought back one of them said something about the Uzumakis…but I'm not sure, I was kind of distracted at the time." She really wished she had paid more attention to what had been going on in that time now but she had been kind of distracted.

She looked at her long hair and wondered, could she be from the Uzumaki clan? She had heard a little about it, they had been destroyed with their country and the survivors had spread out among the world. She could be from that clan and if that was possible she might use that to get closer to Naruto.

"Huh, I wonder if that means I could be an Uzumaki then?" She wondered out loud hoping it might give them ideas.

Naruto and Minato stopped eating as they looked at each other and then at Karin. Naruto had never thought that they would ever find another person who was an Uzumaki. The thought that maybe there was another and sitting so close by excited him as he eagerly looked at Sakura.

"Hey, hey is there a way to check to see if that's true?" Naruto asked his friend being a medic she might know.

Sakura thought about it, "Well if we take blood samples from both of you it would be easy to find out." Although she really didn't think there would be anything to find, what were the odds of her being part of that clan? She was startled when Naruto suddenly grabbed her hand pulling her up.

"Then come on then, let's do this!" Naruto said eagerly the thought of someone else that could be considered family made him more excited than he had been in years.

"W-wait I haven't paid for my meal or even finished!" Sakura protested.

"Hey Ayame-neechan put it all on my tab okay?" Naruto asked the ramen girl behind the counter. She smiled and told him it was okay.

Karin was surprised but decided to follow along leaving Minato and Sakurai behind.

"Should we go with them?" Minato asked her. "I mean it would be kind of cool to find out if there was another Uzumaki."

Sakurai hadn't been able to say one word to him after that incident in the movie and she thought about her choices. Either she could go to the hospital with the others and be around them as Sakura ran some kind of testing or being alone with him for who knew how long. She wasn't sure what had happened or why but to be honest she didn't trust what might happen if they were alone.

She wasn't ready for it as her mind was still confused with all kinds of thoughts and questions. She figured it might be best to actually go home and think on things. Maybe talk with her mother, that might help with her confusion plus she still had all kinds of scrolls she needed to look through for her genjustu training. Pushing the mostly finished bowl aside she stood up paying for her meal.

"Actually I got to get home I have a lot of work to do for Kurenai-sensei," Sakurai told him particially telling him the truth. Although she could see the disappointment on his face he didn't protest. "Let me know what they find out okay?"

"Yeah sure thing, see you tomorrow?" He asked hopefully.

She paused but nodded her head before leaving hoping that when tomorrow came she felt a bit more sure about herself when the next time they met.

**Next up Chapter 17: A new Family member?**


	17. A New Family Member?

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 17: A new Family member?**

Currently Naruto was waiting in one of the halls of the hospital as Sakura was working on some blood testing for Karin. He had originally been watching but Sakura had kicked him out for bothering her work. Sulking he was sitting in one of the chairs tapping his foot impatiently. He really wanted to know if Karin was part of the Uzumaki clan and if they were related. He wasn't sure how related they could be since he had no idea how large the clan had been. Thinking back on what little he knew they had their own country so it stood to reason it had to be a large clan right?

Maybe bigger than the Hyuga clan was one thought so the odds of them being too close might be a long shot. He should have tried to track down Hinata or Neji since he could have asked them how many in their clan they were related to. Still it was kind of exciting, he wondered just how many more of the Uzumaki clan were still out there? He wondered if he could try and find more of them somehow, well that was a thought for another time. He heard footsteps and saw Minato coming up to him although Sakurai was nowhere in sight.

"You know how hard it is to find this place," Minato complained. This part of the hospital wasn't where you would normally go since the patients were kept in another wing. This wing was used for storage, classes and also for research labs like the one Sakura was using. So he had never been here before and got turned around a few times. If it hadn't been for a nice nurse he came across he would still be looking for this place.

Naruto only smiled and shrugged at him he had come with Sakura so it wasn't like he got lost with her leading the way.

Minato took a seat next to him, "So how come you're out here anyway?"

"Sakura-chan said I was distracting her," Naruto sulked.

Inside Sakura was currently watching blood samples from Karin and Naruto in the centrifuge, the mixing of certain chemicals were needed and as soon as that was finished then they could test the samples. Of course it had also taken a few minutes to coax Naruto just to get a needle in his arm, the boy faced some of the toughest battles without flinching but a little needle turns the big hero of the last great war into such a child. Still that child like quality of his was kind of endearing at times but when she was working not so much.

Karin was still in the room as Sakura asked her to say, although the real reason was that Karin would be alone with Naruto in the hallway while she was stuck in here. So she had to make the excuse of needing an extra set of hands although there wasn't much for her to do.

Karin was sitting on a chair bored as she looked at the pink haired girl work. She had been watching the girl for some time now and there were a few things she needed to clear the air with her. Since they were alone this seemed like the ideal time while they had nothing to do.

"So tell me, what is Naruto to you?" Karin asked bluntly never one to step around gently about a topic.

Sakura blushed as her head whipped around to look at the red head. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's a simple question," Karin told her crossing her arms. "Is he just a friend or are you in love with him or something?"

"Why would I be in love with him!?" Sakura shouted out turning even more red in the face.

"Then why the hell are you getting in my way?" Karin demanded to know. "If you aren't after him then why do you seem to want him to remain single? You want him to wait forever for you or something because that's just cruel. Well I like him and I want to date him so if you don't mind stop getting in the way."

Sakura wasn't sure what to say at that point given that Karin was very blunt with her point. And she did want Naruto to be happy it was just she felt this ugly twisted feeling in her guts at the him with another woman. She didn't like that feeling and she wished it would go away but lately it had only seemed to get worse. Plus what was Naruto to her? That was a good question, yes they were friends in fact they had become the best of friends. She couldn't picture her life without him anymore, once she had wanted nothing to do with him but now it was the complete opposite.

She saw that Karin was waiting for some kind of answer. "Naruto...is a very important person to me. Why are you so interesting in Naruto anyway?"

Karin shrugged as she adjusted her glasses, "When Sasuke left, without one word or even a damn note to me I might add, I had a lot of time to think on things." She was still sore that he had left in the middle of the night and most likely had done so that he was out of her chakra sensing range. First the whole stabbing her and now this really pissed her off and although it took some time she finally managed to get over him.

"I tried to get over him and eventually I did so I decided the next guy I would go after would be the exact opposite. So while thinking about it I ran into Naruto at that ramen shop and we got to talking, he's a pretty nice guy and he was one of the first people here to treat me well. He's also kind of cute plus he's warm."

"Warm?" Sakura asked confused.

"His chakra," Karin thought about it as she reached out and touched his chakra out in the hallway. "I first felt it when he carried me to the Leaf when you guys found me. He felt so warm, like a blanket that you just wanted to curl up in." She did like the way he felt at least his surface chakra the other chakra that belonged to the Fox, not so much. That charka she could do without as it always gave her the creeps, it just felt so 'unnatural' to her compared to people's chakra.

Sakura thought about it, Karin did have a good point and it wasn't like she was dating Naruto but she still had this pained feeling in her stomach almost like she was losing him in a way. She went back to her work trying to focus on something else.

It was quiet for a moment before Karin spoke up again.

"So, what's the story between Naruto and that actress on the screen?"

"Not sure but I think I want to find out later," Sakura grumbled to herself.

It was a couple of hours later when she let in Naruto and Minato as the results had finally gotten ready. Both of the boys were eager to see if they had a new relative or not. Sakura looked over the results and then looked up at the two boys who were trying to sit still for her.

"Apparently Karin does have Uzumaki blood in her," Sakura spoke up.

"Alright another Uzumaki!" Naruto shouted and jumped out of his chair.

"Cool, is she a cousin or something?" Minato asked just as eagerly.

Karin was wondering about that herself, she hoped it wasn't like first cousins that would be a little creepy to her. She knew some clans and families didn't care about that but she wasn't like that. Sakura took a closer look at the data as she made sense of it.

"From the looks of it," Sakura paused to double check. "I'd say that maybe you're a few generations removed from each other. So kind of like you share a relative somewhere, maybe something like a great aunt you both shared. So you're not too closely related but you are part of the same family tree, so maybe something like fifth cousins, three times removed or something like that."

"But we're still family right?" Minato asked hoping that was the right answer, he wasn't sure what three times removed meant or fifth cousins but it would be nice to have more relatives.

"Well I think so," Naruto grinned happy to have another member of the family He turned to look at the red head. "So does this mean we can call you Karin Uzumaki now?"

She shrugged she hadn't had a last name before so personally she had grown used to it but if it made him happy then so be it. Plus as she started to think about it, it was kind of nice being a part of something. "Sure I don't see why not, after all I guess you are the official head of the Uzumaki Clan these days so if you want it then as the head it's your call."

Naruto blinked at that, he had never even thought of that before. He had been the only Uzumaki for so long that he never once thought that he came from a clan, even when he learned that the Uzumaki had been a great clan once he had been just by himself so he never thought of anything like restoring the clan like Sasuke thought of restoring his.

He got a huge grin at that idea of being the head of a clan, "Then as my first official act, Karin is now part of the Uzumaki clan!"

"Great this will go straight to his head now," Sakura sighed. "Just remember to get all the paperwork done to make it official Naruto, plus I bet Tsunade-sama will have to be informed of all of this."

"You bet," Naruto grinned happily to have another member around felt great. It was like little by little he was making a larger family for himself. Now he also thought about Karin had said about him being a clan head. "Cool so this means I'm a clan head then huh?"

"A clan that's all of three members, remember Naruto?" Sakura told him before he got any big ideas. Sometimes he could get carried away so she had to reel him in before that happened.

"Hey until a few months ago I was the only Uzumaki," Naruto grinned at her. "Then with Minato we became two and now with Karin we're three. If this keeps up we'll be as big as the Hyuga in a year."

"So does that mean I can call you Nee-chan?" Minato asked Karin which took the redhead by surprise.

"Well...whatever I don't mind," She tried putting it off as nothing she wanted to get closer to Naruto after all and maybe with this she could use as a way of 'rebuilding' the clan as it were with Uzumaki blood. If Minato wanted to call her that she didn't care, at last that's what she told herself although anyone looking at her would see a slight blush on her cheeks.

She had never had family before after all, she never felt the need for one. She had been alone all her life so she was used to it.

Minato however smiled up brightly at the older girl, "Great, now I got a big brother and sister." He grinned so big that Sakura thought his face was going to split. But it also warmed her heart to see the little guy so excited. She knew that having all of Naruto's memories he also knew what it was like to be alone in the world like Naruto had been. She was glad that they were finding more family these days knowing that to them family was a very precious thing.

She knew how lonely things had to have been for them or at least she felt she could understand it. The years of loneliness and even rejection from others was a pain she knew from her own childhood but to live for years with that kind of pain. To her it was heart breaking to think that two boys who seemed so happy all the time most likely felt that same hollow pain when they were out of sight. It was strange how looking back at first she had never really paid attention to Naruto, now she hated it when he was in pain.

She had realized he was a great guy and the things he had to go through were so unfair in her eyes. When he was in pain she felt it and wanted to do anything to help him. She tried her best to support him whenever she could just like he did the same to her. But looking at the three of them now, she couldn't help but feel kind of like a third wheel.

Naruto was overjoyed that Karin turned out to be an Uzumaki, this meant that there really might be more out there. Plus having someone else that was family would help make things less lonely, although he loved this village sometimes when he went home to en empty apartment it was kind of painful. No one to welcome him home, no parents there to greet him and ask him how things went or any of the other things most people took for granted.

Growing up he always wanted to just come home and have a family there waiting for him, to have a dad take him out to play, for a mother to tuck him in at night, for siblings to play with. As time went on he got used to being alone but he never got used to the pain of that loneliness. It hadn't stopped until Team 7 had been formed and now he had people in his life all the time, it was one of the reason they were so precious to him. Now that Minato was here living in the spare room it was like his life felt more full. There was a person at home and he was there to greet him or vise versa.

He didn't see Minato as a young clone of himself (although it was kind of odd seeing his younger face all the time), but he really did think of him as a younger brother. Now with Karin the family was growing, he would have to get to know the girl better he figured. Learn things like her birthday and stuff she likes, plus she didn't seem to mind taking on their clan name so it would be really nice to have a new Uzumaki.

He looked to see Sakura was cleaning up and for a second he thought she looked a little lonely.

"Hey you need help with that Sakura-chan?" He offered although he knew he had no idea what needed cleaning or how to clean the equipment but he did want to help out.

Sakura remembered the last time he had tried helping her out with her work in the hospital, he somehow made a larger mess than ever and took her twice as long to clean it. "Ah, that's okay I got this really." She said quickly.

"Come on Naruto let's leave Sakura to her work," Karin said grabbing his arm seeing an opportunity. "Let's get some "family time" to get to know each other better."

"Uh...well if Sakura-chan is okay then I guess we can go," He looked at Sakura but she waved him off.

"Great, now let's get going," She smirked to herself dragging him towards the door with Minato following them. "So Naruto, you ever think about rebuilding the Uzumaki clan one day?" She asked him as they left the room.

Sakura nearly dropped what she was holding when she heard that last part as she quickly sent a glare to the empty doorway. She had a feeling that Karin might try something with Naruto and that last thing she asked him made Sakura worry a little. She sighed as she cleaned up her work area but all the time she was cleaning up her mind kept going back to Naruto and Karin alone, sure Minato was with them but if he left then there was no telling what that girl would try.

'_**What is Naruto to you?'**_

Karin's words echoed in her mind as she paused, if Naruto was just a good friend then she should be happy if he found someone but she still felt this pain inside of her at the thought of him with some other girl.

Sakura sat down as she thought about those words over and over again as she tried to think what was Naruto to her? In the past year since the end of the war she had let go of Sasuke but had she moved on and was ready for someone else and was that really Naruto? She rubbed her head all this conflicting emotions of hers were not doing well for her heath.

**-Haruno Home-**

Sakura walked into her home as she took her boots off, she was about to just place them anywhere but she knew her mother would tell her to put them away properly so she put them away properly. She had a lot on her mind these days and Karin hadn't put them at ease. She walked into her home and could hear sounds from the kitchen. She walked in to see her mother, Mebuki Haruno getting ready for dinner.

Her mother noticed her and smiled as usual, "Hello dear how was your work today?"

Sakura sat down at the kitchen table and slumped a little with a sigh. "It was okay."

Mebuki wasn't fooled however as she put a few things away and sat down next to her daughter. "What's wrong dear? You've been a little distracted lately and now you come in looking like the wind has been taken out of you."

Sakura looked at her mother and thought about it, maybe it was time to finally ask for some motherly advice. "Mom, how do you know if you really like someone? I mean what if you were close friends with someone but you weren't sure if you wanted to take things further with them or just keep things as they are?"

Mebuki smiled knowingly at her daughter as she had a guess as to what was going on. She had been watching things between her daughter and Naruto for the past year now since the end of the war and Konoha had been rebuilding. Her daughter always talked about Naruto, either to compliment him or pissed at something he did. She had been expecting this actually and it looked like Sakura had started to figure a few things out for herself.

"Well let's start with a few questions," Mebuki told her. "Do you think about this person a lot? Is he on your mind at least every day or close to it?"

Sakura thought about it, it did seem that Naruto was on her mind a lot especially lately. She nodded her head to her mother.

"Okay then do you get jealous when other girls pay attention to him?"

Sakura's face soured as she thought about how other girls that had been paying attention to him over the past year after he had become such a big hero. Girls would wave at him and act so shyly as well, some even tried to openly flirt with him. Then of course there were other girls who were actively trying to get Naruto to notice them.

She felt that same dark feeling in her stomach and with a sigh he nodded her head.

"Okay then I guess the important things are left. How does he make you feel Sakura?"

"Huh?"

"You know does he make you feel happy, angry, or something else whenever he's around?"

Sakura thought back to her life with Naruto so far, the past couple of years she really looked hard at it. Naruto was always there with a smile on his face for her, he would show up after her work at the hospital to hang out which was a blessing as sometimes the stress of the work he helped to get over it. He was always there for her no matter what and the truth was that she actually looked forward to their time together.

She liked being with Naruto as Karin's description of him being 'warm' was very accurate but it wasn't just his charka. Sakura thought about their date and it had been a really good one, he had been very nice and she had really enjoyed herself. What if she went on more dates like that, would she still enjoy herself? Knowing Naruto she had a feeling that he would always do his best and it was no secret how much he liked her.

She felt her cheeks warm at the thought of how much he liked her and how he treated her.

Her mother saw it and smiled, "I take it that you really like being with this boy?"

Sakura was surprised out of her thoughts at her mother's words as she bit her lip.

"Look dear you obviously like this boy but if you don't accept things you'll have only yourself to blame. You don't want to lose him to another girl right?"

"But what if-" Sakura was cut off by her mother.

"Look dear you're old enough now to make your own choices," her mother told her gently. "But if you don't take any kind of chance you'll never get anywhere. Sometimes it's best to try and even if you fail you can still hold your head high." She reached over and gently placed her hand on one of her daughter's.

Sakura felt the warmth of her mother's hand and she thought about her mother's words. If she didn't take a step forward she wouldn't get anywhere. She wasn't sure how deep her feelings for Naruto were but maybe it was best to try and see just how deep they ran. If things didn't work out then she both hoped that they could stay friends but also she could hold her head high as her mother said. She would have at least tried.

Maybe the fact that she had never gotten anywhere with Sasuke was what was holding her back, she had never considered that thought before. Could she just be afraid of rejection and Naruto leaving her life like Sasuke had? All this time was she afraid of that happening to the two of them? Her green eyes opened slightly at the revelation. She had been afraid of all this time of what might have happened that history would repeat itself.

"So have you come to a decision?" Her mother asked.

"I think so," Sakura nodded her head. Maybe it was time to finally throw off the past and work for a different future. She looked at the time and wondered if she should wait for tomorrow but she didn't feel like that was the best choice for herself. She had tried denying her feelings out of fear and it felt like just an excuse to her to put it off.

If she was going to do this she was going to face it head on and whatever happened would happen. She got up as she gathered up her resolve. "Mom, I might be a bit late, there's something I have to do."

Her mother smiled at her, "Go ahead dear, sometimes what the heart wants is more important."

Sakura smiled back at her mother and nodded, "Thanks mom." With that Sakura left the kitchen and quickly went to get her boots on. She had a few ideas of where Naruto might be at this point and she would check for him at each spot. She just hoped that it wasn't too late and this time he would believe her. She remembered that false confession last time and although her intentions were good she knew that she shouldn't have done it if her heart hadn't been in it.

Now it would be different and she hoped this time her feelings would get through to Naruto.

Sakura's mother heard her daughter leave and was just about to get back to work when Sakurai walked in looking a little loss herself. The eldest Haruno woman smiled and nearly shook her head, it would seem that both her daughters had the same trouble. It would seem a mother's work was never done.

"Sakurai you looked troubled is there something I can do to help?"

Sakurai paused as she thought about it, there were a lot of issues she had. First all the memories in her mind that wasn't hers, dealing with the fact that she was coming to terms with who and what she was, the different chakra from the Fox being bonded to her, and finally there was Minato and that strange 'pull' she had towards him lately.

That was what one the biggest problems she had dealing with lately, she wasn't even sure why she was feeling this way. He was the only thing in this world that she felt she could hold onto though, he was in the same boat as her dealing with a lot of the same problems they were dealing with. She just didn't want to complicate things as her life was complicated enough as it was.

Sakurai sighed, "I don't know, it's just that some days there just seems to be a so much going on that I can barely keep my head above water. I'm trying but some days it just seems really hard, sometimes I have to remind myself of how things are because I'm still so used to how things used to be."

Some days she felt drained by the mental weight of it all, some things like her training with Kurenai helped her to focus on something else and push everything else to the back of her mind. But every day she couldn't help but notice how things had changed. The entire village had been rebuilt from how she remembered it, people were different all over.

Suddenly she felt warm arms wrapped around her as her mother hugged her from behind, she could feel the warmth of her body, the smell of the perfume she always wore, it brought back so many memories that she knew weren't hers but they were powerful ones. Her mother had always been such a kind and warm protection that she could always go to. She had memories of being bullied a lot, of having no one to play with but her mother had always been there with a kind word or a hug whenever she felt down.

Now she felt that again but in a way it was the first real time she felt that connection with herself.

"I can't pretend what it's like for you dear," She said softly hugging her close. In the months that she had come to live with them it had been a little awkward getting used to it but the more time she spent with this girl she couldn't help but feel bonded to her. No matter her origins this was her little girl just as much as Sakura and she had been trying to make her feel like part of the family, because in their eyes she was family.

"Just know that no matter your origins you are a child of this house," she spoke softly to her hugging her gently. "I may not have given birth to you but to me you are my daughter, I love you like I would love any child of mine. You will always have a home here and we will always be your family and I will always be your mother. So when the world gets too hard to deal with just remember that you have family waiting for you."

Sakurai felt a stinging in her eyes as tears threatened to come out, for the first time since waking up in that hospital and finding out she wasn't who she thought she was. For the first time she felt like she was home again. She reached up to in front of her to hold her mother's arms just wanting to enjoy the moment. She knew it would take time to fully adjust but in this moment she felt that maybe she had taken a new step in adjusting to her new life here.

"Thanks mom." Sakurai said in a soft voice trying not to get too emotional.

"I think that's the first time you said that to me," The elder Haruno spoke happy that she was starting to feel more at home to call her that. "Now then why don't you help me with dinner then."

"Okay," Sakurai had memories of helping out from before but this time she knew it was her actual first time doing it for real. It would be nice to get more memories of her family that were actually hers and not the borrowed ones she had. As she went to help her mother out she wondered where Sakura was, normally she was home by this time unless she was working late for some reason.

She asked her mother but she only had this curious smile on her face.

"Oh don't worry, Sakura had to deal with something important she should be back soon and I think she'll be back a lot happier." She said cryptically to the younger Haruno girl who just looked at the woman with a confused look on her face.

**Next up Chapter 18: What the Heart Wants**

I'm a little iffy on this chapter, I felt I could do more with it but for some reason it wasn't flowing like it used to. Oh well next chapter should be better.


	18. What the Heart Wants

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 18: What the Heart Wants**

Naruto had just finished spending time with Karin, well him and Minato of course although Karin did seem a bit more interested in him. He shuffled around in his living room thinking about Karin, she was okay but she was kind of friendly around him making him a bit uncomfortable. Minato had gone to his room to study more on the sealing techniques the boy had been working on lately. Naruto kind of wished he could help him out but he had never studied sealing other than the simple one on summoning the toads and sealing away items.

But this was Minato's way of being a ninja so maybe the boy would turn out to have talents for it, Naruto grinned that maybe one day Minato would be able to teach him a few things in return. He checked the clock and was about to get dinner ready, which was mainly ramen cups, it wasn't like he or Minato really wanted to eat anything else, when someone knocked on their front door.

Naruto was curious on who was knocking and he really hoped it wasn't a message that he had a mission suddenly come up. He hated it when people came by only for that, sure sometimes others came over although Sakura was the one that came over the most, which were the visits he looked forward to the most. When he answered the door he stood there surprised, it was almost like he had wished for her to show up and she had arrived. He made a mental note to try that out more often.

"Hey Sakura-chan, I was just thinking about you," He grinned happily at her.

Sakura smiled a bit nervously back at him, she had rehearsed what she was going to say dozens of times coming over here. She had tried thinking of something that would be perfect to say to him but everything she had come up with she hadn't felt happy about. So by the time she had ended up here she had pretty much decided just to go with whatever came from her mouth and hoped for the best.

"Hey Naruto, you mind if I come in for a second?" She tried to sound normal but given what she was planning on doing she couldn't help but feel her heart racing.

"Sure come on in," he moved aside to let her in and then closed the door after her. She looked a little worried or even nervous to her. Something must have happened or something was going on as he noticed the little things about her that told him something was on her mind. "Is there something wrong?"

"N-no not really it's just," she paused as one of her hands went to lightly grab hold of her other arm as she couldn't look him in the eyes. She took a breath and forced herself to look at him, he had a slightly confused and concerned face but as she looked at him she felt her resolve strengthen. This was the right thing to do she felt and if she didn't do this now she knew she might never be able to do it again.

"Naruto I have something important to tell you but I want you to believe me when I say it."

"Why wouldn't I believe it?" He asked now really confused.

"Because last time I wasn't honest when I said this but now I am," She took a breath knowing that her false confession last time hadn't been real. She hadn't put her heart into it but this time she wanted to. She just hoped that if anything happened then he would at least believe her this time.

"Naruto lately I've been thinking on things, mainly between us," she looked at him wanting him to see her eyes. "You've been my best friend for a few years now, you're always there for me, and you've always been nice to me and said nice things to me. You always seem to think about me and although sometimes you do mess up, the thought behind it I know was honest."

Naruto felt a little embarrassed from this as he scratched the back of his head, "Well you've always been important to me Sakura-chan."

She smiled as he said that and she nodded, "I know and I wanted you to know that you're important to me too, in fact lately I think you've gotten even more important to me." She blushed a little slowly working her way up to it.

"More important?" Naruto felt himself getting nervous and anxious at the same time. Was Sakura trying to tell him what he hoped she was? He swallowed hard as he felt his heart starting to race that after all these years, after trying so hard was one of his greatest dreams finally coming true? He knew that he had always thought about this moment but for it to actually happen was something even his eternal optimism had wavered sometimes.

"Yes, lately I've started thinking of you as more than just a really good friend Naruto," she honestly told him. "I think before I was just afraid of being hurt again and pushed my feelings away."

"I would never hurt you Sakura-chan," He told her quickly.

"I know that it was just something I had to work out myself but you know lately, well...I started to like you." She felt her whole face warming as she told him. "I know that last time I said that I didn't mean it but please Naruto believe me this time, I really do like you. You're always there with a smile on your face and it brings a smile to my face having you around, you brighten my day. I know sometimes you can be immature and even annoying and you eat too much ramen that as a medic it worries me."

"But even with your faults I know I'm not perfect either and those parts just make the things you're good at shine even more. You're the kindest person I know, you're honest, you're also very strong and I admire how you never give up on anything."

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto was at a loss of words as he looked at the girl before him. He remembered that last 'confession' and he had seen through it because he knew Sakura, he knew she hadn't been serious only saying the words that he wanted to hear. But looking at her now, seeing the emotion in her voice and in her eyes told him that this time was different.

There was that little voice of doubt in the back of his mind telling him not to fool himself again but he pushed it away. If this was really happening then he wanted to enjoy it, he wanted to have the memory of this moment burned into his mind.

"And also you are...cute too," she blushed even more saying it as he saw him blush as well. He was cute to her, he had this handsome face now after he had grown up but there was this innocent about it all that just made him look cute to her. Plus she had to admit the whisker marks did help. Plus there were his eyes, she really did love looking into his eyes she found in that moment. They were just the most beautiful shade of blue that made her question why she never noticed them before. They held so much expression and felt drawn to them.

"I-I always thought that Sakura-chan was really pretty as well," Naruto nervously told her as she was looking at him in a way he hadn't seen before but he liked it. Her green eyes were something he always loved as they were like a pair of emeralds to him.

"So you believe me?" She asked him slowly taking a step forward becoming aware of how taller he was now. She had noticed it when he got back but she really liked his height now, he wasn't too tall just the right type of tall that was just a little bit more than her.

He nodded his head becoming aware of how closer her had gotten he could smell the sweat scent of her now.

"So then...do you...I mean..." she tried to say the words but they kept getting caught in her throat but she had come this far she had to go even further. "Do you want me be my boyfriend?" She said quickly trying to force it out of her.

Naruto blinked not sure he had heard her correctly but after seeing her waiting for a response he settled that he had heard right. He felt light as air as one of his long term dreams had seemed to finally come true. To finally have Sakura as his girlfriend was something he only dared to dream about, part of him was wondering if he was dreaming right now.

"Yeah, I've wanted that for years now Sakura-chan," he eagerly told her.

"I just wanted to ask," she told him feeling herself giddy inside she was happy that he had accepted her feelings for him. Now maybe there was just one more thing to make it official as she took one last step forward. "So...if we're going to make this official, then I guess we need to do something, right?"

Naruto felt himself getting warm all over hoping that she was telling him what she thought she was. He really hoped that he was going to get a kiss out of this and not the one on the cheek he had gotten from their date. A real one this time, his first real kiss (and no he would never count that 'incident' in school for the rest of his life) as he slowly leaned forward. He saw her close her eyes and he figured that was a go ahead signal from her, at least he hoped so because if he was wrong he knew that she would flatten him.

Well if he had to die he would rather do it feeling Sakura's lips with his own. Her nervously leaned down and felt his lips touch hers as he felt her stiffen but soon relax into it. He started to relax too as he closed his eye and soon both of them started to experiment. Moving their lips trying to figure out the best way, it was awkward and clumsy but after a few tries they soon figured things out. Naruto without thinking felt his hands go to her waist pulling her against him as she ran her hands over his chest.

Naruto couldn't believe this was happening, if this was a dream he never wanted to wake up from it. Plus her lips were even softer than he had ever thought they would be and the feeling of her pressed up against him she felt just so right being there. For Sakura she was lost in her feelings kissing him like this in this moment she had never felt so right about anything in her life.

She wondered why she had waited so long to do this, all those days wasted without this warmth filling her very being. Eventually the two pulled away both red faced but staring into each other's eyes as though seeing them for the first time.

Sakura was the first to say something, "Wow that was, better than I always thought it would be." She had always wondered how her first kiss would go and although they had a little trouble at the start by the end there she had really enjoyed herself.

"Yeah it was really great," Naruto couldn't wait to do it again to think that after all this time had had gotten a real kiss from Sakura and without her punching him for it, hell she had asked him to be her boyfriend. He wanted to scream it out for all the world to hear, to tell everyone that he had Sakura as a girlfriend.

The moment was broken however when a sudden crash made them jump and quickly turn to look at Minato who was sheepishly looking at them from the floor. The door to his room was wide open and it didn't take a genius to know that they had had a hidden audience for their first kiss together. He sat up scratching the back of his head grinning at them.

"Uh...congratulations?" He told them not sure of what else to say.

Both teenagers blushed a bit at being caught Naruto was the first to recover from the shock of being discovered. "What were you doing?"

"Well I heard her coming in and I kind of got curious what was going in," he told them honestly. Although when they started kissing he had tried to get a better look only to fall over. But still he didn't totally regret it as it was nice to see Naruto get the girl and it gave him hope that one day he could get the girl as well.

"I-I think I should go home now," Sakura said slightly embarrassed. "My mom was cooking dinner and I should get back before they start. I'll see you tomorrow okay Naruto?"

"Yeah you bet," he replied as both were a little unsure if they should say or do anything at that moment.

Naruto had always wanted Sakura as a girlfriend but now that he had that, he suddenly realized that he had no idea what to do when you had a girlfriend. Sure there were dates but in moments like this was he supposed to say or do something? He really had no clue since he had no experience with any of this kind of stuff. Sakura was in the same boat as him, as a young girl she always pictured having a boyfriend like most young girls at that age.

But she too didn't know what you were supposed to do in certain instances, as they stood there unsure she decided to at least give him her own way of saying goodbye as she quickly leaned in and kissed his cheek before saying a hasty goodbye and quickly left, leaving a stunned but happy Naruto there placing a hand on his cheek where she had kissed him.

Sakura walked out into the streets of Konoha smiling to herself she felt better than she had in a long time and the way her heart kept hammering in her chest thinking about her first kiss made her warm all over. She suddenly jumped as Naruto's voice could hear heard in the night, mainly from him shouting out in joy.

She palmed her face, "Jeez I'm not even a block away." She despite that she did have a bit of a smile on her face it felt nice that someone enjoyed having her that much in life it made her feel wanted and special. She happily walked back home to find her family just starting to set down for dinner she was glad that she hadn't missed it as it smelled great as usually from her mother's cocking.

As Sakura walked into the kitchen her mother was the first to noticed her eldest daughter and the look on her face told the eldest Haruno woman all she needed to know. It made her heart very happy that Sakura seemed to have found someone and she couldn't fault her on her choice. She had met Naruto only a few times but the boy was very nice and seemed to really like her daughter.

"I see that things went well," She said with a smirk as Sakura sat down blushing slightly.

"Yes they did," She replied with a small smile still plastered to her face.

"Oh did something good happen?" Her father asked seeing how happy Sakura was. His eldest child blushed trying to hide it behind her hair as she lowered her face. "Ah I see something good did happen, well looks like our eldest is finally blossoming into a woman, just don't blossom too quickly because I'm still too young to be a grandfather." He laughed at his own joke.

"D-Dad!" Sakura said completely red faced and nearly mortified at that.

"Oh settle down dear," her mother waved her father down.

Sakurai had guessed what was going on but chose not to jump into the whole affair she could see that Sakura was already having a troubled time dealing with both of their parents. She secretly hoped that never happened to her whenever she found someone. Which brought up a whole mess of things she really didn't want to deal with at the moment, but still she was hoping to maybe walk with her later about it.

Mainly because she was curious how things went, the romantic inside of her was eager to hear all about how things happened and what they might have done. She grinned to herself while eating as she planned to question Sakura more at length later tonight in her room.

Suddenly there was a knock on their door, their father shrugged as he went to see who it might be. They all waited as they heard the door open and muffled voices, whatever it was it was it was over quickly as he walked back in carrying a letter.

"This is for you Sakurai," He said handing the letter over to her.

Sakurai wasn't sure what it was but as soon as she saw the seal of the office of the Hokage on it she knew it was orders for her. She opened it up and read it and frowned at the meaning of the message.

"What is it?" Sakura asked curious.

"It says to go to training grounds number 7 at nine o'clock to be for team assignment."

"Eh, so that means you will be put into a genin team?" Their mother asked her.

"I guess so," She wasn't sure how she felt about it, on the one hand she wouldn't mind being put on a new team. She could finally get started on her ninja career again but it would still feel strange to her. Would Minato even be on her team, because if he wasn't then she would be with two others that she had no idea who they would be. She did need to meet new people but still it would be nice if at least she and Minato would be on the same team so she would at least know someone on it.

It was odd given her confusion over Minato that she felt more secure with him around.

"Looks like I'll find out tomorrow," Sakurai wondered who their sensei would be she doubted it would be Kurenai although now she would have to find time to study under her while also being in a genin team. She made a mental list of things she needed to get done, get her equipment and clothing ready for the next morning, set her alarm so she didn't oversleep, then find out what their work schedule would be like and then tell Kurenai about it.

It seems like she was going to get even busier these days, well she didn't mind. She wanted to make a new life for herself and in a way she had a lot of catching up to do depending on how you looked at it. She put the letter away as she wanted to finish her dinner with her family.

Sakurai had a small smile as she thought about that, looking around the table she saw her mother and father teasing Sakura who was trying to deflect the attention off her and failing the feeling sitting here make the young clone feel fully at home.

"So when are you going to invite him over for dinner?" Their mother teased.

"You're already asking me that!?" Sakura wasn't sure if she could keep up with this.

"Why not?" Her father asked, "We never got to really spend time with that boy and it would nice. How about he brings over Minato as well? Would you like that Sakurai?" He grinned at his youngest daughter.

"L-leave me out of this please!" Sakurai may felt at home but that didn't mean she could handle everything that came with having a family.

Sakura sighed as now their parents were bringing Sakurai into this whole thing.

"_At least Naruto doesn't have to deal with this kind of thing."_ Sakura thought to herself wondering how much she could push away bringing Naruto home for dinner. It wasn't that she was against it, but she would like to have him to herself at least for a bit first.

Across the village at the Uzumaki apartment Naruto wasn't exactly getting off easy as Minato had been on his case about Sakura ever since she had left.

"Come on how did it feel to kiss a girl?" Minato whined.

"It was nice, what else do you want?" Naruto groaned he was sitting at the dinner table bent on top of it with his arms over his head.

"But I want to know how you did it," Minato pouted he was hoping to get some kind of tips as when he kissed a girl he wanted to know what to do. "Hey when she was pressed up against you when you two were really going at it, did you feel her-"

"Please don't finish that," Naruto groaned a sudden knock on the door got his attention. "Oh thank god."

Eager for the distraction he hoped it would be something that would take Minato's mind off his kiss with Sakura. When he opened the door and saw a ninja messenger there he wasn't sure what was going on and he was even more curious when the messenger told him that the message was for Minato.

**-Tsunade's Office-**

Tsunade was behind her desk late as she had much to deal with, you would think in a time of peace the paperwork would lessen but sometimes she swore it was larger on her desk than normal. She had finished with the usual paperwork and reports but what she had now was something she had been thinking about for some time now.

Ever since Danzo's death his ROOT organization had been slowly disassembled with most of the members being brought into ANBU, a few were placed into special areas like guarding the prison or specialty work. A few had even seemed to have left the village with no trace most likely they had become rogue and were working at mercenaries. Apparently without Danzo they had no loyalty for the village.

It was a shame, especially since most of the members in ROOT had no actual names so actual records of how many were missing was only a guess. It was a mess because she had no way of knowing who had left, what they might be up to or where they might go. She sighed as she rubbed her temples, some days she couldn't wait to hand this entire burden to someone else, she really was starting to feel her age these days.

But what she was really working on was the youngest members of ROOT, they could still have a future as normal life as a ninja given what happened with Sai she felt it was a good way to rebuild them from what Danzo had done to them. She still had no idea how he managed to get so many children into his organization without anyone noticing. She had read reports from Sai and from the few documents they found among Danzo's processions about him using orphanages but still it was unthinkable for her that he had done something so heinous.

Still one of the things she had spent this last year on was slowly taking ROOT apart and trying to rebuild its members now it was time for the younger ones and she had an idea she wanted to try out first.

There was a knock on her door as she looked up and told them to come in. Shizune opened the door as she led in Yamato. Well 'Yamato' was the name that he had been using for some time now, although originally a codename for him to use he seemed to have taken a liking to it and kept it. Well she didn't mind if he went by Yamato, or Tenzo or whatever he wanted to call himself she had a need for his services.

"If that's all Lady Tsunade I have an appointment to keep," Shizune asked respectfully.

"That's fine this is the last thing I had to take care of today." Tsunade told her as her first apprentice left the room. Tsunade rested her head on one of her hands as she looked at the door closing. "That girl has had a lot of 'appointments' lately. Wonder what is going on with her?"

"I'm sorry?" Yamato asked.

"Oh nothing, just talking to myself," she waved it off as she gathered up a few files. "I called you here because I have a special mission for you. I want you to lead up a new team for me."

He was surprised by this but he wouldn't mind leading a new team. "Will I be in ANBU again my Lady?"

"Nothing like that, these are the three I want you to lead," she told him with a smile as she put the folders out in front of him.

Yamato was curious as he opened them as he straightened in surprise by what he saw. This was not what he had expected although he didn't exactly have anything against it. The first two names he had already knew but the third was something he had not expected. "Are you sure about this one?"

"Yes I think that by working with you and the other two it might help her find her humanity again," Tsunade explained her whole plan to him and his role in the new team.

"Well that is a good idea," Yamato agreed as he looked at the open files he had placed across the desk. It might be a challenge but honestly he already had some experience with this. Although this would mean that for at least a couple of years this would be what he would be dealing with. "Are you sure about this, there are others with more experience."

"I believe that you are the right man for the job," she told him confidently. "After all you know two of them and are already trying to help them train in the use of the Kyuubi's chakra that is inside of them. This will give you more time to help with that plus they need a team. I can't just put them on whoever needs a replacement or keep having others take turns in teaching them. They need a full time sensei and given your similar origins I think they can feel more at ease with you."

Yamato couldn't deny any of those reasons given that he himself was an experiment of Orochimaru's and he could help them with their training. He did think he might need Naruto on standby if things got intense given that he might be able to control their other chakra like before. Still training Naruto in elemental usage had felt nice so maybe teaching three young genins to become something great was something he would find some enjoyment with.

The third member of the team he had no idea what she was like, there really wasn't much on personality in files normally unless they had some kind of quirk or problem that would require attention to it. Looking at her skills they were impressive for her age but then again ROOT wasn't known for training their members with kids gloves.

"So, Yuki huh, no other name?" Yamato asked her looking at the file of the unfamiliar student he would be teaching.

Tsunade sat back in her chair with a heavy sigh, "She didn't even have that until yesterday, honestly coming up with names for all these people is getting to be tiring. Anyways she's been ordered to report to training ground nine tomorrow, I'll already sent out messages for Sakurai and Minato to show up there."

"I better get ready then," Yamato put the files back into a pile and bowed to her before leaving.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair finally done for the day as she pulled open one of her drawers. She took out one of her favorite blends of saki, a cup and an old picture she kept. It was of her own genin team as she looked on a bit sad at how happy they all looked. Even Orochimaru in that looked somewhat content (although you'd have to know him in order to see it), there was the Third behind them standing all proud and there was Jiraiya there trying to put an arm around her younger self.

Her eyes lingered on the image of Jiraiya, a world of 'would haves' and 'could haves' ran through her mind before banishing them. You can't change the past but part of her did wish that she could do it all over again. At least given the old pervert a chance as with him gone she felt that the world was little less bright since his death.

"Well here's to old friends and old memories," She told the picture before pouring herself a drink and slamming one back. She felt the burning liquid move down her body as she sighed, "I wonder what you would think of how things turned out? Oh hell you'd most likely be so proud of Naruto that you would be bragging none stop about being the teacher of that boy. He's done you proud you know, well I hope you're happy where you are you old pervert."

She toasted him again before putting everything away, she wasn't one who would drink herself into a stupor at work alone anyway. She stretched out as she started to put everything away and lock up for the day. Now that Shizune was gone off doing something she really didn't have a drinking partner anymore and drinking alone was too depressing. She decided to just go on a walk, it was a nice day and honestly sometimes she did just like to walk around the village and take it all in.

**Chapter 19: A New Team**

**Well who is the new teammate? You'll see her in the next chapter as it is an OC it's someone I've been working on to help make a three man team. **


	19. A New Team

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 19: A New Team**

Naruto woke up to the sun hitting his face as he muttered and turned over not wanting to get up. He liked to sleep in and he just felt too comfortable to want to get up. But that nagging feeling that he should get up slowly worked its way into his mind as he slowly started to open his eyes. His vision focused on his clock as he groaned, it was still a bit early for him he wanted to sleep a little longer. He had this great dream of kissing Sakura that he wanted to get back to.

Suddenly his head popped up as he thought about last night and Sakura coming over, at least he hoped it really happened. It had happened right? He felt a bit of panic in him that it might have just been all a dream, he had had dreams like that before although that one had been a lot more tame than what normally happened at the end of the dream. He needed to know that it had happened as he jumped out of his bed and thought about how to do it.

Suddenly he ran to Minato's room and threw open the door, Minato was tangled up in his sheets sleeping heavily not even waking up for Naruto storming into his room. Naruto quickly went over to the bed and shook Minato.

"Hey, hey Minato wake up!"

"Wha-wazz...huh?" Minato sleepily looked up to see Naruto there.

"Was Sakura-chan here last night?" Naruto eagerly asked him.

"Huh?"

"Was she here last night and did we...well you know," Naruto blushed a bit remembering their first kiss together. He really couldn't wait to do that again, in fact he couldn't wait to see her again.

"Yeah she was here why?"

"Oh, no reason," Naruto grinned standing up.

Minato glared at him as he just turned over and tried to get back to sleep.

Naruto decided to leave him to it before pausing at the door and snapping his fingers as something hit him. "Oh yeah weren't you supposed to get a new team today?"

Now that woke up Minato as he had completely forgotten that he had his first team meeting today. He quickly looked at the time and paled given that he had slept in.

"Crap I'm going to be late!" Minato rushed off the bed but his feet tangled up in the sheets causing him to fall against the floor with a loud thud making Naruto wince. That looked like it hurt but Minato only struggled to kick out of the sheets. When his feet were free he made a mad dash around the room trying to find some clothing.

Unfortunately he was just as messy as Naruto had been at that age and there were items all over the room. Naruto scratched the back of his head, had he really been that bad at that age, then again Sakura over the last year or so had been trying to get him to keep his place clean. Which he just realised that if he wanted to bring Sakura over here more often he would have to keep the place clean so she wouldn't be put off by any mess, well it was a small price to pay as he grinned at all the things he could do with her here alone.

"Hey where are equipment pouches?" Minato yelled out to really no one in general as he was digging through some clothing.

"I think you left them in the living room," Naruto told him. "Just get some clothing ready and hop in the shower, I'll get them and work on breakfast."

"Thanks!" Minato quickly picked out some clean clothing and made a run for the shower. Naruto could only smile at how it felt to be helpful like this, like part of a real family.

**-Training Grounds-**

Sakurai was the first to arrive as she stood there waiting, she hated waiting alone it always made her think that maybe she got the wrong place or time and she constantly had to mentally go over things in her head time and again to make sure. She also hated it because time seemed to move even slower when you were alone waiting. She signed as she was wondering where everyone else was, as she tried to guess at how long she had been standing here.

After some time she finally heard someone coming and noticed it was at a fast pace. Looking to her left she saw Minato coming at her at a dead run. By the time he got to her he was panting for breath and looking like he had most likely ran the entire way here.

"You're running late," she told him then again so was everyone else apparently.

"Sorry...clock...didn't...go off," He tried to get out.

"Well at least no one else is here yet so I think you're okay," Sakurai looked around she had memories of this place but it didn't look all that different. There were the three stumps, the large grassy area surrounded by trees.

It wasn't long until Yamato walked into view, he was actually looking forward to this.

"Well I'm glad to see you both here on time." He told them.

"I'm just glad to get a sensei that actually shows up on time instead of two hours late," Minato muttered.

Although Sakurai wished he hadn't said it out loud she had to admit that it was nice not having to wait around for hours wasting time. But looking around she noticed that there were just the three of them. "Uh sensei, is it just the three of us?"

"Hey yeah we can't really have a team with just you and the two of us can we?" Minato knew that genin teams were made with three genins.

"Well she's right here," Yamato told them and looked up. Both young clones looked up and were surprised to see a girl sitting on one of the branches above them. They hadn't even noticed she had been there, how long had she been there?

"You can come down now," Yamato told her as without a word she just jumped down. Now up close they could get a closer look at the girl.

"Team this is Yuki she will be our third member," Yamato introduced her to them.

The girl Yuki stood before them, she was kind of pale but what really was odd was her white hair, it was cut very short at the lowest it didn't even go back her neck. She wore simple black ninja pants and top with what looked like ninja mesh under it. She had a small dark blue vest with a small tanto on her back. She wore the Konoha symbol on your basic headband. What was odd was the fingerless gloves with what looked like small rings on all her fingers.

Minato noticed that her ninja pouches on both thighs looked a bit larger than what was normally used.

Sakurai noticed that the girl had a slim figure like her own only she seemed to be slightly more on the athletic side, she definitely carried herself very rigid, her hear shaped face was framed by her snow white hair and she might have thought the girl could seem cute except for her odd blank expression. She really didn't show much signs of anything and seemed to stare right at you, it was a little unnerving really plus her dark eyes were very dull.

"Well now that everyone is here we can get started," Yamato told them. "Let's do some introductions then, you've just met Yuki, she's from ROOT originally but as Tsunade-sama is disbanding that group because of her age she was placed with us. I hope you all can get along with her."

"I'm Yamato and I'll be your sensei for the time being, now since Sakurai and Minato already know me for Yuki's benefit I'll reintroduce myself. I'm Yamato and I can use both water and earth jutsu and I can use the rare wood jutsu. I like walnuts, reading and architecture and I've completed over a thousand missions."

'_Well that was a lot better than our last time doing this,' _Sakurai and Minato thought together remembering the first time Team 7 did this with Kakashi.

"Now you two," Yamato asked them.

"I'm Sakurai Haruno, I like trivia games and my favorite foods are syrup-coated anko dumplings, umeboshi and anmitsu. I have basic ninja abilities but I'm learning genjutsu from Kurenai sensei."

Minato starched the back of his head, "Well I'm Minato Uzumaki, I like ramen and learning new jutsu. I know the shadow clone and rasengan but right now I'm trying to learn seals so that I can find my own future as a ninja as Konoha's next seal master!"

Sakurai was surprised by this, she hadn't heard of this before. It was nice though to know that Minato had found something to shoot for. She hadn't really thought about her future she was so wrapped up in the present to really think about it much. Sakura was pretty much becoming the next Tsunade so Sakurai was wondering if she should become the next genjutsu master for the village? It was something to think about but first she had to get a lot better.

"Alright then Yuki it's your turn." Yamato told her.

The pale female stared at them without expression for a second. "Yuki."

Everyone sweat dropped at her simple answer.

"Well do you have any hobbies?" Yamato asked hoping to get the girl to open up more.

She thought about it for a moment, "Reading."

'_This is going to be harder than I thought,'_ Yamato mentally sighed. "Okay how about what skills you have?"

"Stealth. Infiltration. Assasination. Small weapons training. Specialty: Ninja wire."

"Ninja wire?" Minato asked narrowing his eyes slightly. "How is that useful?"

She gave him a blank look before looking at a tree she flung out her right hand and it was then that they realised that those weren't rings on her fingers. They were actually tightly wound metal wires. The very fine wires sailed through the air with a high pitched sound as the easily cut through one of the branches cutting it up into several pieces. With a flick of her wrist the wires wrapped up the pieces before they fell and with another flick she sent them flying into another tree.

"Uh...okay...they are pretty useful," Minato made a mental note not to judge her ninja wire skills again. That had been pretty cool if a little scary how she did that without even a simple expression. She was wondering how long it took her to get that good with it.

Sakurai nodded her head as she took note of that skill she obviously had a lot of intense training.

"Okay then now that the introductions are out of order let's start with some warm up exercises," Yamato clapped his hands getting their attention. "Then I plan on some light sparring so I can see your fighting styles and help you to improve on them. Then we'll break for lunch and in the afternoon we'll be working on your chakra levels and control exercises."

The new team started up on their warm ups which were at first stretches, then Yamato had them go for a kilometer jog, after that were push ups, sit ups, squats. He created a few wooden posts and gave them gloves as he had them practice punches and kicks against the posts for ten minute each. By the end of that he felt that they were warmed up enough for the sparring.

He took his time in making mental notes on each of them, he had two of them spar without any jutsu to see where they were at. He switched up who was sparing with who randomly so they wouldn't get used to each other's styles and so they wouldn't ware out.

From his assessment it was obvious that Yuki had the better fighting skills holding her own against the two of them, Minato won out on stamina and tenacity plus he liked to improvise giving him an unpredictable quality. Sakurai he was a bit worried her skills were just above genin, most likely from the training she gained from Sakura and Kakashi during her time here were the only ways she had improved. Also she did seem to have a lot more stamina then he thought she would have at this point. But the girl had a calm mind and seemed to analyse her opponents, that he could work with.

Yamato called for a break as he went to get the lunches he got for them earlier leaving the three of them resting up. The three genins were sitting down against the three posts in the middle of the training grounds.

Sakurai hadn't worked that hard in a long time, Yamato was tough but fair and during the sparring he called out advice for them. She looked over at the other two, Yuki was sweating but had that calm expression on her face and although Minato seemed to be sweating as much as the two of them he still looked like he had a lot of energy.

She looked over at Yuki again, she was their new teammate but it was hard to get a read on the girl. She reminded her a lot of that Sai guy, maybe in time she would open up more at least she hoped.

"Man this is great huh?" Minato grinned as he wiped his head. "It really feels like I'm getting better from this. Hey Yuki, do you know anything about seals?"

"No." She simply told him, and that was that for her. It wasn't her blowing him off she literally didn't know anything about seals so she told him in the most effective way she knew how.

"Awww man I was hoping to have someone's help," Minato frowned and crossed his arms. "All I can find are scrolls and books but finding someone who knows enough that can teach me is hard to find. I keep trying to experiment on my own."

That caught Sakurai's attention, "experiment?"

"Yeah I'm trying to make this tracking seal but whenever I try to make them glow or heat up they...well they do something else." Minato scratched the back of his head.

"Do something else like what?" Sakurai asked him.

"Uh...they sometimes...catch on fire when they heat up too much and turn to ash." Minato muttered. "But it's only for a split second and after the third time I make sure to place them in a pan when I try them out."

Sakurai sighed hoping he didn't burn their place down with his experiments, maybe he should find somewhere safe to practice his seals. But at least he was trying, so far she had learned a lot of theory in genjutsu but Kurenai wanted to make sure she got the basic elements down before trying actual illusions on people.

"Just be careful Minato," Sakurai sighed hoping he didn't try explosive tags anytime soon.

He only smiled at her, "No problem. Oh hey Yamato-sensei is coming back with our lunches, man I hope he got ramen."

Sakurai rolled her eyes, "You really should cut down on that it's not good for you to keep eating that all the time."

"But ramen is the best food there is!" Minato whined.

"Yuki do you think eating nothing but ramen is good for you?" Sakurai hoped the passive girl would agree with her.

Yuki seemed to think before answering. "Agreed."

"There see, that's two to one Minato," Sakurai said in triumph.

"Yeah well I can just make a bunch of clones and they would outnumber the two of you," Minato shot back.

"That's cheating!" Sakurai yelled out.

"Is not!" Minato shouted back.

The two started to argue over the merits of using shadow clones as a viable method of counting votes with Yuki looking on impassive only her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. Yamato came into the scene and sighed, things were going so good. Well maybe the lunch break will get things back to normal at least he hoped.

**-Konoha Hospital-**

There was an odd occurrence in that Konoha Hospital this day, it was nearly the talk of the building as it was a slow day but the nurses were already on the gossip train by the time noon hit. That source of speculation today was that Sakura Haruno was in a very good mood, she had arrived at work almost full of energy and had been smiling all day. Now normally that wasn't something odd but she had been in a perpetual good mood all day long. Plus many people had caught her happily humming to herself and it seemed nothing could take her good mood away.

So when Ino showed up seeing if Sakura would be up for having lunch today she went up to the reception desk. Ino did some part time work given she knew enough medical jutsu to patch up small injuries but she never could master it like Sakura could. But the time she did spend here allowed her to get to know some of the staff. Plus there was this cute young doctor that she had her eye on lately that worked in physical therapy.

The woman at the desk was a younger girl of about her own age, if memory served her it was Ami, she was nice if a little clumsy. Ino said her hellos to her and asked where Sakura was working today.

"Oh Sakura-san should be working on the third floor today," The nurse told the blonde mind reader.

"Thanks."

"Oh wait can I ask you something?" The girl asked making Ino pause. "Is there something going on with Sakura-san?"

Ino blinked a few times, "Not that I know of, why, is she in the bad mood or something?"

"No nothing like that, actually the strange thing is, is that she's in a very good mood all day long."

"Really, well I don't know what happened," Ino shrugged as she walked on. Now she really wanted to get Sakura alone so she could figure out what had happened. As she rode the elevator up she started thinking about all the things that could make that girl happy enough to last all day. She had a few ideas by the time she reached her floor but nothing she felt was concrete. Looking around she started walking towards the offices hoping she was just working on some paperwork.

Looking in she noticed a familiar head of pink hair crouched over a desk but she noticed something else. Sakura was humming to herself, she knew that Sakura only did that when she was particularly happy. The blonde was really interested in what was going on now.

"Hey Sakura you finished for lunch?" Ino called out to her.

Sakura looked at the finished pile on her desk and it seemed like she had caught up to her work. Plus she had been thinking of taking a lunch in the cafeteria but going out with Ino sounded like a better idea.

"Sure just let me clean up a bit," She told her friend smiling.

Ino couldn't help one of her eyebrows raising slightly at how upbeat Sakura was being. Something was definitely going on.

**-Later-**

"Okay I give up, what's got you in such a good mood this morning?" Ino really couldn't figure it out so the best option was the direct approach.

The two were sitting outside a cafe not far from the hospital as they were eating launch that they had ordered.

Sakura paused as she considered just deflecting it but honestly what would be the point in that? It would get around eventually plus maybe if it was public knowledge that she and Naruto were together now it would stop some of the other females their age flirting with him. Plus she kind of really wanted to tell Ino in person anyway.

"Well last night I went over to Naruto's place to have a talk with him."

"Oh?" Ino was starting to get an idea of where this might lead but didn't interrupt.

"I told him a few things, I won't go into detail but by the end of it...well, we're together now," She felt her cheeks warm at admitting it and remembering how it felt to give her first kiss away, then the second, third and so many more she couldn't keep track.

"Wait you mean together as in together, together?" Ino felt a rush of excitement in her.

"Yeah," Sakura felt the smile on her face it felt good to actually say the words. "Naruto is my boyfriend now."

"Huh, well I'm honestly happy for the both of you," Ino smiled at her friend looking at the young woman across from her Ino couldn't help but see the difference. Sakura had been 'off' lately was the best way that Ino could describe it. Like she wasn't sure of her life or where to go, some days it looked like the girl was just going through the motions. Today she had this bright aura about her and for Ino she was glad her best friend seemed to have found something in her life.

"Well I guess Naruto finally wore you down, he's been in love with you since like forever," Ino smirk leaning forward.

"He's didn't exactly 'wear me down' Ino," Sakura didn't like how it sounded, it sounded like Sakura was just settling and she wasn't doing that. "I think I needed time to mature and really figure out what I wanted in my life and who I wanted to share it with. Naruto has always been there and despite some of his flaws, he's really a great guy."

"Wow sounds like you really have fallen for the knucklehead."

"Yeah I think so too," Sakura played with the small desert she had in front of her. "Honestly once the bliss of the moment wears off I'm most likely going to start freaking out."

"Freaking out?"

"Yes because I've never had a boyfriend before," Sakura sighed feeling her mood starting to slip away. "I don't know how to be a girlfriend, I've always imagined it but I'm not sure what to do. I'm just worried that I'll screw this up."

"Jeez Sakura lighten up," Ino shook her head. "Of course you're going to screw up."

"Gee thanks," Sakura said deadpan as she was starting to question her friendship with the blonde woman.

"What I mean is that you both will make mistakes," Ino explained to her. "You both have no experiences plus no relationship is perfect. You've most likely seen your own parents having arguments before right?"

Sakura thought about it, although her parents were pretty easy going they did rarely get into arguments.

"So don't worry about it," Ino continued. "Just take it one step at a time and things will work out. The two of you look good together, hell I'm surprised it took this long given that everyone knows how he feels about you given how he wears his emotions for the world to see."

Sakura had to admit that everyone most likely did know, hell even Sai of all people had once told her how Naruto felt about her before the last war started up. So if the guy that had trouble understanding emotions could see it, then anyone else most likely knew too.

"Thanks, although I am kind of nervous I'm also kind of excited," Sakura told her feeling a bit better letting her main worry out.

"No problem what are friends for?" Ino leaned in getting a look on her face that made Sakura start to worry. "So did you two kiss yet? Oh! Judging by that blush right now I take that as a 'yes' so no denying it. How was it?"

"W-why do you want to know?"

"Oh come on!" Ino threw her hands up in frustration. "You got a boyfriend before me, hell you got your first kiss before me. The least you could do it let me live vicariously through you until I can find a decent guy." It did kill her a little inside that Sakura got a boyfriend before her, plus she was interested in how their relationship was going.

Sakura fidgeted a little in her chair as the look from Ino told her that the blonde wasn't going to back down. With a sigh Sakura felt like she might as well give her friend some information. "Well at the start it was kind of awkward."

"For you or both of you?"

"Both, I've never kissed anyone before and he seemed to clueless too," Although both girls in that moment remembered a certain incident near the end of the academy with Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura decided to move on, "But it got better after that, we both got used to it and I just sort of let myself go with the moment."

"Oh so it got good?" Ino grinned, "just how hot were things getting?"

"Well were just kissing...a lot, I might have ran my hands through his hair," She muttered the last part as again the pleasant memory of that moment made her happy and another part of her wanting to do it again.

"He kept his hands to himself?" Ino wondered if Naruto might have some wondering hands. After all this was the boy that made that perverted sexy jutsu.

"He kept them decent don't worry about that if he did try anything too far you know I could easily deal with that," Sakura did think that maybe she should talk to Naruto about boundaries at some point. She didn't want to wallop him because of a misunderstanding.

"Well it's good to know he can behave," Ino joked. "Although I bet it's great to have a boyfriend with his own place where you two can be alone without any adult supervision." She drawled on that to see Sakura's reaction.

"H-he does have Minato there remember." Sakura tried not to think about it but unlike at her place, Naruto lived with no parents. If she took him up to her room most likely her parents would demand at least the door be opened to some extent. Plus Minato had caught them in their first kiss, that had been a little embarrassing.

"Oh I'm sure Naruto can get rid of him for an hour or so," Ino waved it off. "Plus I bet if you could hook him up with Sakurai then he would have his own reasons to wanting to be left alone."

Sakura thought about it but shook her head. "Ino don't go try setting them up or anything. I don't know how she feels about him and honestly I think she still needs time to adjust. I can tell that it hasn't been easy for her to adjust to things and the last thing she needs is to have someone meddling in her love life."

"Okay, okay," Ino held up her hands in a sign of defeat. "I was just wondering if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree is all."

"I honestly don't know," Sakura admitted, "Ino I took me years to get over Sasuke and to really get to know Naruto. She hasn't even been around for one year, I don't even know if boys is something she's thinking about."

"You mean you haven't asked?" Ino was a little confused, "I would think you two would be pretty close."

Sakura thought about it, "Actually I think she's been keeping her distance."

"Well you have tried to reach out right?"

"I think so I mean we've both been busy. I have my work and she's been working extra hard with Kurenai-sensei to learn genjutsu. She's really been throwing herself into it, I've seen her in her room studying scrolls a lot."

"Come on Sakura, you got to take her out more," Ino sat back in her chair. "She needs to get out a bit more and get to know others her own age. I can only imagine how lonely it can be when everyone you know is suddenly older than you."

Sakura sighed knowing how hard it was to make friends sometimes, hell her early childhood was a testament to that. She had been thinking of just giving Sakurai some space to adapt but maybe she should make sure that girl wasn't isolating herself. Well she could always take Sakurai out for a girl's day out, plus maybe she could start getting a little closer to the girl.

"You might be right about that," Sakura conceited.

Ino sat back as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Of course I'm right, I'm Ino Yamanaka and I'm always right."

"And you say I've got a big head," Sakura said dryly.

"Actually I say you have a big forehead."

"Ino," Sakura dragged out angrily as a angry tic was starting to form she was really sensitive about her forehead.

"Sakura-chan!" A very familiar voice called out as Ino turned around and Sakura looked to see Naruto coming over. She felt her heart skip a beat as a warm sensation was starting to fill her. Was this how she always felt when he was around and just didn't notice it or was this just because of how they were now together?

"Oh hey there Naruto," Ino said playfully. "So I hear you and Sakura are officially together now huh?"

"Ah so you know," Naruto chuckled as he starched the back of his head grinning. "Well it took me awhile but I finally got the girl. Anyways I went by the hospital looking to see if you wanted to get something but you were gone when I got there."

"Sorry about stealing your girlfriend," Ino told him jokingly. "But you can join us if you want."

"Okay," Naruto eagerly pulled out a chair and joined the girls he purposely moved slightly closer to Sakura a move not lost on anyone there. "So Sakura-chan I was wondering you wanted to get something to eat together after you're done at the hospital?"

"Okay I'll just let my parents know I won't be home for dinner than," she paused as she considered it. "You're not taking me out for ramen are you?"

"Naw we go there a lot of the time, that's more for just hanging out I wanted to take you somewhere else." Naruto honestly told her although he would always love ramen he knew that other people didn't always feel the same. Although he didn't understand how anyone could pass up ramen it was the best food there was in his opinion. Still he was hoping to take her somewhere a little more isolated just so that it would be just the two of them.

"Already taking her out on dates," Ino smirked at the sight of the two of them. "

"Ino don't you have something else to do?" Sakura asked her friend wanting a little alone time with her boyfriend.

"Nope," Ino simply said resting her chin on her hands just watching the two of them. She noticed the two were getting a little uncomfortable with her looking but they would have to get used to it. Once it got out that they were dating they were sure to get looks. Besides it was also kind of fun to mess with them a little.

"I really think you do Ino," Sakura said in a strained voice.

Ino made a show of looking like she was really thinking about it, "Nope I got nothing else to do at the moment."

"Ino," Sakura growled.

"What am I making you two uncomfortable?" Ino said in fake innocence. "You two are going to have to get used to it. Like holding hands in public, and the most important of all...kissing."

Both of them blushed at the mention of that but Ino decided to press it even further she hadn't had this much fun in weeks.

"You know Naruto, Sakura here was telling me how you rocked her world earlier with those lips of yours."

"Really?" Naruto grinned scratching the back of his head.

"I didn't say that Ino!" Sakura yelled out.

"So it was no good?" Naruto's face fell at the thought of disappointing his girlfriend with his kisses. He thought they had been good but maybe that was just for him.

"No it was good Naruto really!" Sakura said quickly as she didn't want to hurt his feelings over it. "I really did enjoy it, so you don't need to worry about that."

"Oh so you did really enjoy it then," Ino smirked getting that out of her best friend. "I guess that means you wanted me to leave so you could lock lips with him again then."

"Hate you...so much," Sakura grumbled knowing she couldn't deny it or it would hurt Naruto and she was too embarrassed to admit that a part of her did.

"Love you too," Ino winked at her, this was going to be the most fun she had at having lunch in her entire life. She couldn't wait for Naruto to order so she could sit here even longer trying to torment and get as many juicy details out of the both of them.

**Next up Chapter 20: Siblings**


	20. Siblings

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 20: Siblings**

Sakurai yawed with the morning sun that woke her up she had been having a good time with her new team. Okay the new girl was taking some time to get used to she was so reserved that it was hard to get a handle on her. Well she was hoping that eventually the girl would come out of her shell somewhat. She got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up she paused at the mirror seeing her face. Turning her head slightly to the left and right she looked at the permanent whisker marks on her face.

Tracing them slightly she wondered if she was slowly getting used to it, it was a reminder of the Kyuubi's chakra that was mixed in with her own. So far she hadn't had any other incidents with it but she got the feeling that Yamato was going to try and train them in its use. She wasn't sure about that given what happened the last time they had tried, the sudden image of Minato on top of her kissing her neck causing her face to heat up before splashing water on her face.

She really needed to stop thinking about it but every time she was close to him some part of her couldn't help it. She sighed to herself as she needed to get this under control but it was like she felt this pull deep inside like when you placed to magnets close together they pulled at each other. Well they could also repulse depending if they were the same polarity but that was beside the point. There was a knock on the door as Sakura's voice was heard behind it.

"Hey Sakurai do you have a moment?"

"Sure," Sakurai opened the door to see the older girl standing there in front of her. "What's up?"

"I was wondering do you have the afternoon free?"

Sakurai thought about it, her team was meeting in the morning and most likely would get off in the afternoon. Her lessons with Kurenai wouldn't be until tomorrow as well, she was thinking of studying some scrolls on genjutsu to pass the afternoon but it wasn't something she had to do.

"I think so, is something up?"

Sakura shook her head, "No it's not that, it's just that I wanted to know if you wanted to spend the afternoon together. We've all been a bit busy and honestly I wanted to spend some more time with you. You know just some girl time between us"

Sakurai wasn't sure what to say about it but things had been a little stressful after all she had slowly gotten used to her new life and making a life for herself. Maybe relaxing a little would be helpful and she hoped that maybe some time with Sakura would help out a few issues of her own. She hadn't told anyone but it was always odd to see someone that was older than herself all the time, granted with the new whisker marks on her own face Sakurai wouldn't look exactly like Sakura at that age, but it was still kind of odd.

It was just kind of awkward around the older girl and she needed to get rid of that, she was a part of this family now and she needed to feel like she was a part of the entire family.

"Okay sure."

Sakura smiled, "Great, I'll meet you here after your free then."

**-Later that Day-**

Sakurai wasn't sure what to expect when she and Sakura left their home that afternoon but the last thing she expected was to be standing outside of what looked like a salon.

"Kunoichi Beauty?" Sakurai asked reading the name of the place out loud.

"Yeah they opened a month after the war," Sakura told her as they went inside. "It's run by former female ninjas and some civilians that cater to kunoichi. Ino took me here and I have to admit it's really nice and I think you'll enjoy it. It's getting kind of popular."

Sakurai noticed how the place smelled of hair products as well as scented candles. There were already a few women getting treatments as they walked in. There was a woman behind the counter as Sakura talked with her but Sakurai looked around. The place looked very nice, all white but the candles gave it a pleasant and soothing feel, there was calming music being played but it was at a low tone so people would be able to talk as everyone chatted with each other.

Some women were getting their hair washed, others getting their nails painted and various other activities were going on.

"Looks like they can fit us in," Sakura smiled as she led the way and Sakurai followed. "This place is getting so popular I bet that in a couple of months you'll need to start making appointments to get in."

"I don't remember ever going into a place like this," Sakurai commented as they were led to two chairs next to each other. She took one and Sakura took the other as they sat down, the chairs were laid back as their heads were gently lowered into the sinks as the women got to work running the water.

"I know, not normally my thing and Ino had to drag me here but just give it a shot, it's actually kind of relaxing." Sakura told her as she felt the woman working on her head and hair starting to run the hot water over it and started to gently massage her scalp.

As Sakurai was getting the same treatment she had to admit that she was starting to feel a little bit more relaxed as the woman's fingers started to do their work. The hot water felt nice as her hair and scalp were professionally washed. She could smell the lavender soap being put into her pink hair, when they were done they put towels in on their head while their shoes were removed.

Sakurai had never had a pedicure before but as soon as the woman's expert hands went to work she was starting to see the point of it all. Their toe and finger nails were also being done as well, since female ninjas worked a lot with their hands it took a lot to keep their skin nice and soft when needed. Plus there had been a few developments in nail care apparently, Sakurai noticed that a special coating was being placed on her finger nails.

She asked about it and was told it was a special protective gloss that would help keep the paint but also hardened to make the nail stronger so it was harder to chip and break. Apparently some female ninjas liked to use lots of it to keep their nails slightly long and sharp so that they could be used as claws if needed.

"So Sakura-san, I've heard that you've gotten together with Uzumaki-san," The woman painting Sakura's nails asked her.

The entire shop seemed to take notice at least to the two pink haired girls seemed that it felt like that.

"Yes, Naruto and I are together now," Sakura blushed a bit she was still getting used to telling people that. It still sounded slightly weird saying that to others but she was slowly getting used to it.

"Oh that's wonderful," The woman smiled at that. "There was a lot of people wondering who would get that boy, after all that he did recently he became really popular. Oh that reminds me," she turned to one of the other workers. "Who won the pool?"

"Wait were you all betting on if Naruto and I would get together!?" Sakura nearly sat up in her chair at that.

"Not exactly," Another woman admitted, "There was a lot of betting pools, it wasn't just you that was in the running. A few girls were in the running actually."

Sakura was about to ask how many but decided against that, she really didn't want to know after all. She felt embarrassed that there had been some kind of betting pool on who Naruto would have ended up with. She came here to relax and that's what she was going to do, well try to do when they started asking her questions about her love life with Naruto that's when she was starting to regret coming in here today.

Sakurai tried not to smile or laugh at how uncomfortable Sakura looked but at least no one was asking her odd questions. People had stopped looking at her funny so it was nice to finally feel like a more normal person for once. Maybe the whole Naruto/Sakura thing had gotten the attention of the village off her and Minato.

After getting both pampered a little and Sakura being grilled on her new relationship the two girls decided that they could use some new clothing as they headed to the shopping district of the village, it was one of the busier places because a lot of shops were here. The Haruno shop was also located near the area.

The two were currently shopping as Sakurai had enough spending money for some new clothing and Sakura felt she could use a couple of new items as well. The pair had split up to slightly different sections of a good clothing store in the market area. Inside there was a decent amount of costumers, all female since it was a female clothing store, and Sakura was hoping to find some new clothing that she could wear on dates. Since she now had a boyfriend she hoped that Naruto would take her on something that would require to dress up a little.

She wasn't going for full on gowns or anything too big, but it would be nice to dress up a little for him. She smiled wondering what he would think of her in this cute little skirt she found when she paused at the underwear section. She noticed a few of the frillier and even sexual styles and it made her wonder about when the time came for him to see in her in something like that. She blushed a little at the thought, they weren't even dating for a few days yet but part of her wanted to be ready. The last thing she pictured for her first time was in her simple and plain under garments.

She paused at a frilly red set of bra and panties and considered them they were in her favorite color.

"Picking something out for Naruto?" Sakurai had silently walked up behind the older girl, not on purpose or anything it was just habit. She had noticed Sakura looking at underwear she knew normally she wouldn't look at and pieced together why.

Sakura jumped and looked at the younger image of herself. "W-what's wrong with that? Besides I was just looking."

"You aren't thinking of going that far already are you?" Sakurai wondered out loud to her as Sakura was older than her so maybe she did things faster?

"N-no!" Sakura quickly said. "I just wanted it to be ready, I'm nowhere near ready for that I want to actually have some nice dates with Naruto and have us both ready for it."

"So you really do like him huh?"

Sakura smiled as she thought about it, "You remember how things were at the start, I was so obsessed that I didn't want to see anything else. Sometimes I wonder if I was just going along with the crowd with Sasuke-kun but with Naruto things are a lot different. It took time for our relationship to build you know but as we both matured and all the things we went through together it was slowly building over the years."

"He's always been there for me and I want to always be there for him. When I look in his eyes they have this look, this look of pure love and devotion towards me when we're alone at first it kind of scared me how someone could feel like that. But now I want to return those feelings and then some, when I'm with him I feel loved and safe. He makes me laugh and smile as much as he makes me frustrated, I know that my life will never be boring with him."

Sakurai could feel the emotions in Sakura's words and for that moment she really envied the older girl.

"I hope I can find someone that makes me feel like that," she sighed to herself.

Sakura heard it and draped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey don't worry about it, you're still young and you're a Haruno too. You'll find a good guy just keep an open mind and don't overlook someone like I did. Trust me if there is anything I can do the very least is to make sure you learned from my own mistakes."

"For a moment I thought you were going to try and push Minato on me," Sakurai voiced a concern she had for awhile now. "I mean he's Naruto's clone and I'm your clone and you two are together so I think people might expect Minato and me together."

"Okay first off," Sakura told the younger girl. "You are your own person, if you want to date someone for the right reasons it doesn't matter who it is. You could meet a new boy and totally like him and it doesn't have to be Minato. You've already proven that you're not going to just follow in my footsteps but make your own path in life."

"And although you are my clone that's only part of it, I also consider you my little sister."

Sakurai looked up at the older girl.

"You know that I always wanted siblings growing up right?"

"Yeah," Sakurai answered.

"Well I finally got the little sister I used to wish for," Sakura smiled at her and she meant it. It had taken time but getting to know Sakurai she slowly started to bond with the young girl. She didn't just see herself but a young girl that shared her blood, her family's blood. "That's why I wanted for us to spend some time together today I wanted us to be more like sisters that is if you're okay with it."

Sakurai felt her heart rising into her throat, she was already accepted by their parents into the family but with Sakura accepting her now it was like the final piece was together and they were a family, a real family. She smiled up at the girl as she found her voice again.

"I'd like that, plus you would be a pretty good big sister."

Sakura was touched by that, "Thanks. Now let's get something to eat huh?"

"Yeah I could go for something right about now," Sakurai was starting to look forward to trying to see Sakura as an older sister now. It might take some time to get used to it but she remembered always wanting a sister when she was young and had no friends. Maybe in a strange way for the both of them fate was giving them something they had once wished for.

As they passed through the streets they found themselves at a familiar store, Sakura stopped as she was biting her lip slightly. Sakurai knew that look all too well and she had a guess what the older girl is thinking. Right before Sakura was going to suggest going into the ramen shop Sakurai beat her to it.

"You just want to go in and see if he's there already," Sakurai grinned as Sakura stopped trying to think of something to say that could deny that but yet still let them go in.

In the end Sakura knew that Sakurai had her, could anyone blame her? She knew Naruto well enough that he was most likely in there already and she hadn't seen him all day. She just wanted to see him once, nothing major but it would be nice.

"Okay yeah you got me," Sakura sighed as she slumped in defeat.

Sakurai however decided that since Sakura had done a lot for the both of them today so going to get some ramen was a small thing she could do. "Well come one, if we wait too long I bet you'll miss him." She told Sakura walking into the shop.

Both girls entered the place and right there sitting at the counter were two very familiar blondes already eating it would seem. As they got closer Ayame was working the counter, her father Teuchi was most likely in the back. She welcomed them as they walked up to the counter which got the boys attention. Naruto's face lit up seeing Sakura walking to take the seat next to him.

"Sakura-chan!" He said happily and then paused as he looked at her. "You seem different."

"We just had a day out together and first stop was this beauty parlor," She explained to her boyfriend.

"Sakurai-chan you look good," Minato said although he said it through a mouthful of food making Sakurai roll her eyes as she took the empty spot next to Sakura away from him.

"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full like that," Naruto told the boy. "Girls hate that."

"Oh, sorry," He quickly swallowed. "I guess you know a lot about girls then huh?"

Naruto grinned as he was about to take credit for it before Sakura elbowed him into the ribs. "And who was the one that told you that girls didn't like it when you did that Naruto?" She asked him.

"Uh yeah you did," Naruto said a little embarrassed but then smile at her. "But you always do things like that to help me become better. It's one of the reasons I love you so much."

"N-Naruto..." Sakura said now it was her turn to feel embarrassed but he only just smiled even more at her reaction.

Ayame couldn't help but give a small laugh, "Oh this is just so sweat. I remember the time when you were just a little boy and here you are all grown up with a girlfriend. You know Sakura even back in school he would always come here and talk about you."

"He did?" Sakura perked up at that.

"Oh yes some days he would just gush about you it was so cute." The ramen girl laughed.

"Ayame-neechan you don't need to go into that!" Naruto told her not wanting Sakura to know about how he used to talk to them about it. He did talk to them about everything because they were one of the few people that would listen to him.

"Oh I remember that one day he said he always liked your pink hair and wondered if it was as soft as it looked." Ayame laughed as Naruto wished he could just shrink down in size.

"So did you ever get a boyfriend Ayame-neechan?" Minato asked wondering as she had known Naruto for years. She was still young but still in her prime, plus he always thought she was cute so she had to have gotten one by now.

Instead the ramen girl's good mood suddenly dropped as her shoulders slumped at the weight of it all hit her. She had spent so much time working here with her father she didn't have much time to meet guys. She had been single and now that she really thought about it, the little boy she watched grow up had gotten into a relationship before her. Suddenly she felt a bit depressed about her life.

"Minato!" Sakurai scolded him seeing her reaction. "You shouldn't ask girls questions like that. Plus you should eat with your elbows in table it's bad manners."

Naruto and Sakura shared a look it seemed like Sakurai was doing the same thing with Minato that Sakura had done with Naruto. Both seemed to know what the other was thinking and shared a smile as Minato thanked her before removing his elbows and saying sorry to Ayame.

"Don't worry about it Ayame-san," Sakura told the older girl. "I'm sure there are plenty of guys that would want to date you. You're pretty and really nice I think you just need to get out a bit more and it wouldn't be hard."

"Maybe but I'm always here," She sighed. "Maybe I should get dad to hire more people so I can get some time off."

"Yeah plus mostly everyone I know is single," Naruto added trying to show she wasn't alone. "I mean I haven't seen anyone like Iruka-sensei, Gai-sensei or even Kakashi-sensei with anyone but then again Kakashi-sensei is getting kind of old he's like what thirty?" He asked Sakura.

Ayame blinked as she blushed remembering Kakashi's face that one time with her father. "Actually maybe an older guy isn't too bad..." She trailed off.

"Okay what is it?" Naruto demanded seeing that look. "Sakura-chan and myself have been trying to years to see Kakashi-sensei's face and every time it's brought up you act like that."

"Yeah I'm curious too," Sakura spoke up as this was something she too had always wondered. She and Naruto had tried various times to see his face over the years they had known him but each time they missed it. Ayame was one of the few people to have actually seen it and every time someone brought it up or when Kakashi showed up she would always blush at the mention or sight of him.

Minato and Sakurai perked up as well as they took had always wondered what Kakashi looked like without his mask.

"It's...well it's hard to explain," Ayame told them. "I couldn't really do it justice."

"Awww man," Naruto moaned slumping down along with everyone else once again the mystery of Kakashi's face seemed it would remain a mystery. Sakura and Sakurai decided to make their orders since they were hungry and they could use a change of topics. Ayame took the order and went straight to work.

"So how are things going with the new team you guys?" Naruto asked the two younger ones with them. "How's the new girl turning out?"

"Yuki? She's okay but she's kind of quiet," Sakurai admitted that it was hard to get a read on the girl. The girl didn't show much emotion or really talked that much. She wasn't hostile or anything but the girl was like a block of ice.

"She's weird," Minato said crossing his arms. "She's like that Sai guy only not as talkative."

Sakura and Naruto shared another look they both knew how much it had taken Sai to 'open' up, he was more open these days than when they first met but he was still learning the more fine points of interacting with people. It didn't help that ROOT tried to get rid of a person's emotions from a small age and doing who knew what to them. Sai never talked about his past in ROOT the only thing they ever knew was from that book he made about his brother before he died.

They didn't pry since if Sai didn't bring anything up it might be for a reason.

"She just needs time," Sakura told them. "Trust us we know what it's like trying to work with someone that just got out of ROOT. That place is designed to turn people into just weapons she most likely hasn't experience much else outside of it."

"So what can we do?" Sakurai asked.

Naruto snapped his fingers, "How about spend some time with her? Take her out and see what she likes, maybe if you spend time with her she'll open up more. These things take time but the most important things is for her to make friends."

"Well it's not like we know many people," Sakurai sighed. "Everyone I remember is several years older now."

"Yeah that does kind of suck." Minato said looking at his ramen bowl. In his memories he had of Naruto's past he knew he didn't have those he would have called best friends or really close but there were times he used to ditch class with guys like Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji but they hadn't hung out together after school or anything.

"That only guys I know that are your age is Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi. Maybe you guys can introduce her to them and the six of you could hang out?" Naruto offered knowing how much friendships meant to him so making new friends for them would be important.

"I do need to show off the rasengan to him and I got something I'm nearly done with," Minato grinned.

"It might help to hang out with another girl," Sakurai admitted as having a new female friend would be nice and maybe together they could help Yuki in breaking out of her shell.

"Although we do have training and a D class mission tomorrow," Minato said thinking about it. He really hoped to have his little surprise ready by then. He had been working on this seal technique and he needed it to be tested out. He tried with shadow clones but they didn't work, for some reason having the same chakra was the problem. It took him a day of trying and then looking up a scroll to figure that part out.

He really wanted to get good at seals and the techniques behind it, but a lot of the stuff was kind of over his head. So he just went on instinct, somehow once he got the basic understanding down he started working with it until it just 'felt right' to him. Unfortunately he needed to improve on that feeling as most times it backfired on him but he was certain this would work. Well he hoped it worked at least.

"Hey didn't Yamato-sensei say he wanted us to try something with the Kyubi chakra we have?" He suddenly remembered.

"You know he has a name," Naruto told him as every time Kurama heard that word he could feel the fox inside of him almost grumble in response.

"Oh sorry," Minato bowed his head scratching the back of it. "I still getting used to that name."

"Just remember that he's a good friend of mine now and so you should use his name," Naruto told him placing his hand on the young boy's hair ruffling his hair slightly.

Sakura watched him and smiled, he had come a long way and looking at how he was now with Minato she could see him as a good big brother. For a brief moment she wondered if he would also make for a good father one day with his attitude but she quickly pushed that thought away. She was in no way ready to even think about things like that.

"So what's this new training?" Sakura asked wondering about it and hoping to change her focus to that.

"He wanted us to try and learn to control it," Sakurai told her as she was a bit worried about it. The last time hadn't been fun and she still couldn't remember all the details. Also she planned to hopefully keep her distance from Minato in case another incident like last time happened.

"Hey does Kurama have any helpful tips for us?" Minato asked looking up at Naruto.

"I can ask," Naruto closed his eyes as everyone watched. It was odd knowing that he was talking to a giant chakra fox creature inside of himself. Sometimes when he did this you could see slight facial expressions. Not for the first time Sakura wished she had Ino's ability, she would like to know what went on in his head. Naruto's eyes popped open and he scowled, "Well that wasn't helpful."

"Why, what did he say?" Minato asked.

"Figure it out for yourself I'm trying to get some sleep in here and you're too noisy." Naruto said exactly what the fox told him. He also said that it was impossible for him to tell how to control his charka as that was like telling someone else how to control their blood. It was just natural for Kurama to control his chakra because he was his chakra.

"What!?" Minato yelled out. "Thanks a lot for the help you lazy fox!"

Naruto's face suddenly twisted to look at Minato as his eyes changed as did his voice take on a deeper tone. "What was that boy?"

Minato flinched back before Naruto took control again.

"Damn it Kurama I told you not to do that!" Naruto hated it when Kurama popped out like that without at least warning him. This was his body and Kurama was the guest in here now so the least he could do was behave.

"I hate it when he does that," Minato muttered. "I swear he does it on purpose."

Naruto couldn't really argue about that as they all finished their meal. The four of them left the place together after paying both the boys felt filled at least for now. Sakura didn't know where they put it all, although she had noticed that Sakurai ate a bit more than she had as well. It was a little odd but Sakura shrugged it off.

"Where are you two going next?" Naruto asked them.

"Most likely to take drop off the bags at home," Sakura told him. "I don't want to carry them all day and it's on the way to this nice little sweat shop. I was thinking of getting something for desert after dinner tonight."

"That does sound nice," Sakurai did like a small sweat after a good meal.

"You want me to carry that for you then?" Naruto offered. "I mean that's what boyfriends are supposed to do right?"

Sakura smiled she didn't want him to feel obligated as they weren't that heavy but it was nice of him to offer. So she handed him the bags after all it was a boyfriend's duty to carry the girl's bags for her. They fell in step together started talking going into their own little world.

"Um...you want me to carry any?" Minato asked Sakurai and then quickly added. "Just as a friend! I mean we're teammates and should help each other out right?"

Sakurai had a feeling he wanted more than that but she didn't want to give him any false hope. She had no idea what to feel about romance and needed time to really know herself first. So she met him halfway and gave him one of her bags it was a compromise and she felt it was a safe way to let him help her out even a little. When they reached the Haruno home they found Mebuki Haruno sweeping the front steps.

The matriarch of the Haruno family saw her two daughters walking with two familiar faces.

"Oh are you four on a double date?" She smirked at them.

"I am not on a date!" Sakurai shouted out blushing as she quickly grabbed her bag from Minato.

"No mother we just ran into Naruto and Minato and we had a meal together. Naruto offered to help me carry my bags home as well when we were done." Sakura explained to her mother.

"Well that was thoughtful of him," She beamed at Naruto who grinned and scratched the back of his head a little nervous. She wasn't just the mother of his good friend anymore but he mother of his girlfriend he suddenly felt very self conscious when he was around her now. He wanted her approval after all and didn't want anything to really screw something up.

"Well I was just trying to be a good boyfriend to Sakura-chan is all." Naruto told her honestly.

"Aww isn't that just sweat of you," She smiled at him and then looked to Sakura. "You really should invite Naruto-kun here over Sakura. In fact why don't you both invite the boys over sometime for helping out."

"I-I will," Sakura said although mentally she put 'eventually' on the end of that because she at least wanted Naruto a little to herself before she let her parents get into him. Although she knew her parents liked Naruto she wanted Naruto to get a bit more used to them. Already she could tell he was nervous and decided to get him out of there because when Naruto got nervous sometimes he did or said things he didn't mean to.

"Well let's go put this stuff away first," Sakura said quickly grabbing Naruto's hand to take him inside.

"Just don't do anything in your room hun, I'm still too young to be a grandmother," Mebuki called after her daughter.

"Mother!" Sakura's embarrassed voice yelled out through the front door.

"Mom that was cheap," Sakurai told the older woman.

"Oh let me have my fun dear," she said smiling. "This is her first relationship so I have to have a little fun with her. Plus I know they wouldn't do anything so soon, so how about you two?"

"I got to get this away too!" Sakurai said taking Minato inside so her mother couldn't say anything to him either. She wanted to get out of there before her mother said anything just as embarrassing or filling Minato's head with unnecessary things. She would make him wait inside while she quickly placed her bag in her room and quickly got out again.

Mebuki watched them go inside and yelled out to them. "Just remember you two are too young for certain things."

"Mother!" Sakurai screamed out.

Mebuki only laughed a little as she continued sweeping the front steps, sometimes being a mother was fun when you knew how to have fun.

**Next up Chapter 21: Resonance **


	21. Resonance

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 21: Resonance **

Yamato was starting to enjoy his time as a jonin sensei, it was kind of nice shaping younger minds for the future and it was a different type of challenge. Trying to get the team to work together was a little difficult in how reserved Yuki was, she did work well with them but he could tell the other two were unsure what to make of the pale girl.

At any rate he planned to see what could be done with the Biju chakra of the Nine Tail, he was keeping a close eye on the two of them. So far he noticed little things like they seemed to have slightly increased chakra reserves and stamina for their ages. They also seemed to recover slightly faster than normal, he knew that Naruto had those abilities from having all that extra chakra in his system but Naruto's levels seemed to be greater than theirs. Most likely because they only had a fraction of that other chakra but they did seem to have just enough to enhance them.

He didn't have to wait long for the three to show up, Yuki showed up first silently waiting for orders while Minato and Sakurai came next.

"Well I'm glad everyone is here today," Yamato smiled at them all.

"Hey Yamato-sensei can you take a look at something I made?" Minato asked bounding up to the man.

"Oh, what did you make?" He asked as Minato pulled out of his pocket three bracelets. There didn't seem to be anything special about them. In fact they looked like they were just some cheap looking plastic ones. It was only that he was taking a closer look then he noticed that there were some type of seal carved into it.

"What's this?" He asked pointing to them.

"Something I've been trying out," Minato grinned. "It took me some time but I read about how some seals activate when you put in chakra into them but also read about how some seals can interact with each other. So I've been trying to put the ideas together. I couldn't find anything about what I wanted to try so I kept trying it out and I think I got it working."

"So what does it do?" Yamato asked looking closer at the seals but he wasn't versed enough to guess at what he had done here.

"Well when you put in chakra into it and the others are close by they make the bracelets vibrate a little." Minato said proudly. "This way you can find people in your team if you're separated."

"That's...actually a pretty good idea," Sakurai commented looking at one of the bracelets herself. Not everyone on a team had someone that could sense chakra, smell out a teammate or even use something like the Byakugan. She placed it on her wrist and tried to put chakra into it and suddenly felt it shake, she jumped as it surprised her.

"See?" Minato grinned.

Yuki took one and looked at it as she studied it. Minato turned to her and saw how she was taking a very close look at it. "So what do you think?"

"Simplistic but effective," Yuki told him simply as she ran her finger over the seal. It was hand carved into it, it was a little sloppy but the seal looked solid enough.

"Hey can we try it out Yamato-sensei?" Minato pleaded with him. "I really wanted to see if it really works."

Yamato thought about it, it did have some merits if the team was ever split up they could find each other silently. Plus if they placed something like this on a target they were trying to track or follow it would allow them to with a bit more ease. Although he thought maybe it was time to see how well they all were with a little cat and mouse training.

"Alright then, you three put them on, Yuki and Sakurai, I want you two to hide but try to keep Minato from finding you. I want to really test this out and the both of you as well. Stay hidden but nothing too violent this is just a training game." Yamato instructed. Soon the three placed on Minato's bracelets and the girls rushed off as Yamato gave them one hundred seconds before he let Minato after them.

He counted off and as soon as he was finished Minato dashed off, he smiled as he followed along from the shadows. Minato ran off as he started to put chakra into the little bracelet he felt it starting to vibrate a little. He changed direction but it suddenly stopped, he skidded to a stop and went in the opposite direction. It wasn't a perfect system he knew but with every course correction he seemed to be getting closer.

Sakurai was currently in a tree when she felt the band starting to vibrate and over time it got stronger and stronger. She could heard Minato now as he was running she looked around there wasn't much in the way of hiding herself unless she chose the trees but even then he would find her eventually.

'_Well maybe I should start putting my extra training to the test,'_ she thought to herself as she was thinking of her training in genjustu with Kurenai. She thought of one technique she had been working on as she found a large enough tree and stood against the bark of the trunk. She started with the hand seals as she focused on becoming one with the tree. She would place a small blanket genjutsu that allowed the user to blend into their environment as long as they didn't move.

It was a technique used to quickly disappear while still keeping watch the trick was not to move because moving you had to constantly keep the perspective of the genjutsu in constantly motion which required an insane amount of concentration. Soon the pink haired ninja seemed to melt into tree.

Minato came rushing into the area the bracelet was going crazy so either Yuki or Sakurai were here. Looking around he didn't see anyone so he rushed off but then he noticed the vibrations getting weaker. So he went back and went off in a new direction but again it started going weak. He kept this up but ended up back at the same stupid tree every time. He went into the branches hoping she was hiding in the leaves but after all his searching she wasn't there. Jumping onto the grass he looked around.

There wasn't a rock or something that she could use with a transformation jutsu but the tree was too big. Although he didn't completely understand that technique he knew enough how to pull off the Sexy Jutsu but he also knew it had limits. Something to do with mass and size or something he didn't remember much about that as the memories in his head got distracted by how boring Iruka had been at that moment.

He sighed looking around, where was she?

The only thing was the stupid tree and the bracelet was going nuts. Had he missed something he placed a hand out to touch the tree maybe there was something about it? Could it be hollow and she somehow got inside or something?

'Huh, why does it feel so soft?' he thought as his left hand felt something.

"YOU PERVERT!" Sakurai's voice screamed out and he suddenly got a split second look at the girl suddenly there and then her fist connecting with his face. Minato went flying landing onto his back as he groaned and looked up dazed and confused. There she was by the tree and while one arm was stretched out (most likely the one that hit him) her other was covering her chest.

He thought back to that softness he touched and suddenly a thought hit him on what he might have touched.

"Ah! I'm sorry Sakurai-chan I didn't know you were there, honest!" He pleaded with her.

She only marched off grumbling to herself taking off the bracelet she knew it had been an accident but it was just so embarrassing. She felt her whole face red and she needed to walk and cool off, she didn't want to be close to him at the moment.

"Aw man," Minato moaned knowing he accidentally messed up.

In the trees Yamato had seen the entire thing he was impressed that both the bracelet seemed to work and of Sakurai's genjustu ability. She was obviously learning a lot from Kurenai and he looked forward to what she could do once they got out on missions outside of the village. As for the accident, he felt bad for the boy it had been an accident but things like that women were hard to forgive.

After Minato picked up the bracelet that Sakurai had thrown off he walked into the next direction. He really felt bad he had messed up like that although looking at his hand he also couldn't help but grin at the sensation he felt. He tried not to be a pervert about it, honest it's just that it was the first time feeling something like that. He wondered if Naruto had that kind of luck yet with Sakura or if he had an accident similar to that? Maybe he would ask him later besides maybe he could ask for advice on how to make it up so Sakurai might not be as mad later at him.

He was brought out of his thoughts as the bracelet he was wearing started to vibrate pretty strongly. This time he slowly went in the direction and made a mental note not to touch something. He wasn't sure how Yuki would react to something like that. He slowly got closer to where the vibration was stronger scanning the area.

Nothing really seemed out of place, usual grass and trees with a couple of rocks. No animals in the area as he slowly started moving closer not sure what he could expect from the new girl. Then he felt something from his foot as he stepped on something strange.

"Huh?" He looked down to notice a glint from something on the ground, on closer inspection it looked like a wire.

"Oh crap a wire?" He suddenly remembered what Yuki's specialty was and before he could react a wire net hidden by the grass shot up from under him and wrapped him up pulling him into the air. He gave a started cry as he found himself in a net swinging gently over the ground.

He swung there a few feet above the round in a very uncomfortable position as he was quiet for a moment thinking on today. "I think I hate today."

Minato tried to get at his weapons pouch but he couldn't reach. The wire was too strong to break normally so he was stuck. He thought about making a ton of clones and seeing if that would force the wire but then he suddenly had the image of the wires that might cut into him with all that added weight of his clones. He started to look around until he saw the pale features of Yuki sitting on a branch above him.

"Okay can you let me down now?" Minato asked her the girl tilted her head and he swore she was thinking about it. "Oh come on, you can't let me hang in this all day and I think the wires are starting to bit into my left leg."

Yamato chose that moment to appear out of one of the trees surprising the young ninja in the net.

"Ahh! I didn't know you could do that!" Minato yelled out as he had jumped seeing the man merge out of the trees like that. He knew the man could use wood jutsu but he didn't know exactly what he could use with those techniques.

"Alright you can let him go now, I think I've seen enough," Yamato told the pale girl.

"Roger," Yuki spoke softly as she did something and the wires suddenly came undone. This also caught Minato unaware as he suddenly was at the mercy of gravity and fell the last few feet into the ground of the woods.

Minato groaned wondering what deity he had to have pissed off today. "That's it, today just sucks." He moaned to himself as he was face down into the dirt and was seriously considering just staying there rather than tempt fate for whatever else it had in store for him today.

**-Naruto Uzumaki-**

Naruto was meeting up with Kakashi for the day as he was going to get some training under him. Although Kakashi had said that there wasn't much else he could teach Naruto, Naruto could use a little sharpening of his skills in certain areas. Kakashi also said that if Naruto ever wanted to really become Hokage he would learn how to really lead people. This was something Naruto knew he didn't have much experience with, he had gone out on a few simples missions after the war and promotion to lead small groups but nothing major.

He knew that Kakashi had been a team leader even before the formation of Team 7 so any advice or knowledge he could get from Kakashi would be valued to the young man. He was walking towards of all places a book store that Kakashi had told him to meet up at. Naruto wasn't sure why he was to meet up here but he trusted Kakashi. He had turned a corner when he suddenly stopped hearing a familiar voice.

"Thanks for the help I was looking for this book, I was giving up hope of finding it in the village." Shizune's voice was heard to Naruto.

The young man saw the older woman holding a book to her chest as she was talking with Kakashi of all people who had a few books of his own. Naruto quickly jumped back and peeked out of the corner of the building as he watched the two.

"It's no problem," Kakashi told her pleasantly. "I remember you talking about looking for that and I found it by accident. I was here looking for some things and when I saw it I figured you would want to know about it."

"Well thank you for remembering," Shizune looked at the book. "Honestly this is a rare copy of the book, when the village was decimated by Pain's attack we lost of a lot of things and have been trying to rebuild a lot of lost information. The library and records took a lot of damage and although we were able to recover most of it, some books and scrolls were too damaged to fully salvage."

"Yes even after a year we're still putting things back together," Kakashi lamented looking at the store behind him. It wasn't the most glamorous building in fact you could normally just walk by it. A simple sign out front that said it was a book store and a large window. Inside you could see large books shelves with rows and rows of books. If you went inside you would smell the age of all the paper as the old man that ran the book store had ran this particular store as far back as Kakashi could remember.

In fact the old man had been just as old when he was a kid, part of Kakashi wondered if the old guy was some kind of immortal book keeper.

"Well this store is out of the way and not many people know about it but it always has had the best quality of books. If you can't find it here then you most likely won't find it in the village." He told her.

She smiled at him, "Well thanks again for this, although what are those books for?"

"Oh just a little gift to help out Naruto later, also found something for Minato as well."

Shizune giggled, "You always look after your students?"

"Well there isn't much more I can teach him, he's pretty much surpassed my abilities in battle but he needs to learn a bit more about leadership if he's going to be Hokage one day. So I want to make sure he's ready for it."

"I personally think he'll make for a good Hokage one day," Shizune knew Naruto for years now and he had the right qualities he just needed to work on a few areas. "Is it true what I heard about Naruto-kun and Sakura?"

Kakashi chuckled, "Apparently so. I remember when she wouldn't give him the time of day and then they were always together. Since the war ended I noticed how inseparable they were after that." He also knew that after Sasuke left to find himself out there the two of them were there for each other.

"Yes personally I think they are cute together," She then sighed. "Although it's times like this I wish I wasn't single. Since I'm past the usual marriage age I'm not sure how many men would want to be with me at this point."

She always had a major complex about her age, being over thirty as a ninja was an accomplishment as well as still fully active but most women she knew had gotten married years before now usually with at least one child. But here she was painfully single and all too aware of the time ticking by.

"You shouldn't worry about that," Kakashi assured her. "You still have plenty of lovely years left to you and I'm sure there are plenty of single men just right for you."

"Thanks but given some of the women around here I do feel kind of plain." She thought about women like Kurenai and others like her.

"You shouldn't think like that," Kakashi told her honestly. "I personally think you're fine the way you are and if others are too blind to see what's there then that's their loss." He honestly didn't think she should be so self-conscious about her looks. She was a lovely woman in her own right and he wanted to give her a bit of a confidence boost. Besides she was one of the few people he liked being around and she was easy to talk to. Someone he considered a friend.

Shizune felt her face heat up at the compliment it had been some time since a man gave her one and she liked it. "Well I better get going I have a lot of work to get through."

"Yes and I have Naruto to wait for." Kakashi nodded. With that he watched the woman leave as he waited for Naruto.

As for Naruto he wasn't sure what he had seen, where Kakashi and Shizune together or something? Personally as he thought about it he kind of liked the idea as he had never seen either of them with anyone. He would have to tell this to Sakura later she might have a better insight into what he just saw but first he had to talk to Kakashi.

He walked out of his corner and towards his sensei hoping he wasn't coming across as unusual.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, uh...what's up?"

"Naruto good I was hoping to give these to you," Kakashi handed him a few books that were in his hands.

"Books?" Naruto looked them over not sure about them.

"These are important books," Kakashi told him. "They range on things from tactics to leadership. In fact these were the same books your father gave to me years ago after I made chunin."

"My dad did?" Naruto looked up surprised and then back down at the books as his hand gently traced them. He had so little of his parents but looking at the books he felt a slim connection in that moment. These must have had been important to his dad to give them to Kakashi.

"Yep, he was given those books apparently from his teacher and said that they were the building blocks of him learning to be a leader," Kakashi remembered that day as he fondly looked back on it as he thought of the same words said to him all those years ago. "Although it will help build a foundation what you build on that foundation depends on you."

"I know if he were around today he would have given you these same books to read on to help you on our way."

Naruto was at a moment lost for words as it seemed like his dad was reaching out across time to give him something through Kakashi. He looked up at the masked man with a large smile on his face. "Thanks Kakashi-sensei I'll be sure to read them all."

Kakashi smiled back at him, "Well that's good to know. If you have any questions on them just ask me and I'll help clear anything up for you."

"So is there anything else Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked him.

"Actually yes, we're going to meet up with Shikamaru next." Kakashi started walking off as Naruto quickly got into step with him.

"Why Shikamaru?"

"I can think of no one better to teach you shogi." He simply said as he knew that game was built on tactics and strategy and it would help put Naruto in the right frame of mind.

"Wait, what!?" Naruto wasn't sure why he had to learn that game of all things.

"Trust me," He smiled at him still going on forward.

Naruto knew that Kakashi wouldn't lead him astray so he shrugged as he walked with his old teacher.

**-Team Yamato-**

Yamato looked at his team at the moment, it had been a busy day and looking at the three young ninjas he was starting to see the tough side to keeping a genin group stable. Sakurai was still not talking to Minato, Minato looked down in the dumps and Yuki, well she was just her usual self. He had tried to get the team to work together but there had been these walls between them.

He signed maybe it was time to try out the last thing for the day. Maybe things would be more back to normal the next day.

"Alright Minato I want you to come here," Yamato walked a little off and then sat down as he pointed in front of him.

Minato did as he was instructed as he watched their teacher go into a set of hand signs and wooden pillars shot out of the ground around him in a circle. They were the same ones from last time when he wanted to look into using the Biju chakra that was inside of him.

"Not this again," Minato muttered.

"Both you and Sakurai have unique chakra inside of you so you both have to learn how to control it." He explained to the boy. "Now start with clearing your mind and taking deep breaths. I need you to focus on the last time on how you managed to use the other chakra."

"Okay I guess," Minato wasn't sure on doing this given what happened last time but he tried it. He sat down and for a few minutes nothing happened. He got a struggling look on his face as he tried to remember how he did it last time but he couldn't really remember. He was getting frustrated as he tried to think on how he normally did a jutsu and how that felt. Then he tried pushing as much chakra around as he could with no idea of what he was doing.

A few more minutes later and Yamato was about to call it off when Minato's frustration turned to a bit of anger and suddenly he felt something else inside of him. Something hot and he tried to 'grab hold' of this feeling. He definitely felt something this time and he pulled on it as hard as he could. On the outside Minato's features slowly took on a more feral appearance as his whisker marks got larger as there was a slight trace of orange chakra just barely there around him.

Yamato was glad to see that things were working out until Sakurai suddenly called out to him.

"Y-Yamato-sensei!"

He cast a look to the girl and was surprised to see the same slight orange glow about her as her own marks were widening. Her eyes looked more like cat slits now and were slowly fading from green to red.

"Sakurai, are you doing this on purpose?" Yamato had to ask even though he had a good idea she wasn't.

"N-no, I can't stop it!" Sakurai felt the power going through her body as it was just suddenly pulled out of her.

Yamato suddenly had a revelation; they were created together in the lab. Minato was used to stabilize the chakra in Sakurai's body so her body would slowly adapt to the chakra. Although it wasn't all too clear on everything that Orochimaru was doing it seemed that using Minato as a stabilizing agent might have had an unintended side effect.

"Minato I want you to slowly suppress the chakra, Sakurai I want you to follow suit." Yamato commanded them.

Both students did as they were told as Minato tried to push down the power, now that he had a better grasp of it he felt like he could control it a bit better. It was a slow process but eventually after a minute of trying he was slowly doing it. Mirroring him was Sakurai who although startled by what was going on took control. Her genjutsu training was helping her out as that required concentration exercises.

Slowly the two young genins got their power under control. Yamato had to try one more thing at the moment before he could confirm this. He told Sakurai this time to use her other chakra and for Minato to tell him if he felt anything odd. Sakurai got into the wood pillar circle as the girl took a breath and closed her eyes. She concentrated on the feeling of that chakra she had felt just a moment ago, it was easier for her to use her chakra as she was better at it than Minato and soon she felt the power growing inside of her.

"I think I feel it," Minato suddenly said feeling it coming out of him.

"Okay now I want you both to slowly feel out the chakra and connect to it, don't force anything just yet." Yamato instructed them.

Both young teens nodded as they did as they were told, slowly an orange glow surrounded them as both of them could feel something. There was a pressure there on the chakra but it felt weird like it was coming outside of their bodies. It took some time but slowly they managed to sync up with each other as both felt the power but this time they felt most in control of it. When Yamato was finished with his little experiment he told them both to gently push it away.

It took a little doing but both of them were now back to normal.

"Yamato-sensei what was that?" Sakurai asked him.

"Yeah how come when one of use that chakra it comes out of the other one?" Minato asked next.

"Harmonics." Yuki suddenly said the girl had been very quiet as usual but she had been watching very intensely . "They complement each other," she clarified.

"Huh?" Minato asked confused.

"It means you two are linked," Yamato said getting up to his feet and dusking himself off. "I have been talking to Kurama through Naruto a few times now trying to get some information about the nature of his chakra."

"How was that?" Minato asked.

"It was...well it could have gone better," Yamato sweat dropped as his shoulders sagged a bit. Apparently it knew how to hold a grudge and those times he had tried to suppress him in Naruto he didn't take kindly too. Plus the Fox had no real way of explaining how his chakra 'felt' as it was like someone trying to explain how someone's blood 'felt' in their body. Although through his talks and seeing what he saw now he felt he was onto something.

"This is only a theory but since the chakra has no mind controlling it like how Kurama does inside of Naruto the chakra doesn't have the normal will behind it." He started to explain it to them. "Now considering how you two...came into being, maybe you both act as that 'will' for the chakra. Because you two are linked by this chakra if one of you uses it the other might activate as well. Although I'm not sure if this is something that can be done far away so we'll have to research this part."

"So...he and I are linked?" Sakurai wasn't sure how she felt about that at the moment she was still kind of pissed at him for earlier.

"Something like that, but in order for you both to do this safely I feel we need some new training. Mainly to get you two to act as one person, you have to work together in synch with each other. That might explain why the first time it happened you both went out of control, you were taken by total surprise and your instincts kicked in to take control."

"Our instincts did that?" Now Sakurai really wasn't sure she liked the thought of that. Did that mean some part of her wanted Minato to have done..._that _to her? Or was it because they were linked in some way what he felt had bleed into her? Why couldn't she ever have a normal life, then again she knew she wasn't a normal girl so maybe she had to accept that her life might never be normal.

"So how do we train for that?" Minato asked wondering what kind of training they would have to do now.

"Leave that to me, I think you three deserve a break," He told them plus he had to run this by Tsunade and plan out the training for this. He would need some time to get everything set up and they had had a long day they deserved to have the rest of it to enjoy. "Just meet me back here tomorrow at the same time and we can all get started."

"Okay," Sakurai sighed not sure what to do for the rest of the day.

"Sure thing," Minato grinned now with sometime off he could start on his next seal project.

Yuki just nodded her head in understanding as the three went on their separate ways.

Yamato sighed he really needed to get all three of them on the same page and get their teamwork up a bit more before he considered taking them on missions outside the village, especially those two now that they had learned something new about Kurama's chakra inside of them.

**Next up Chapter 22: Bonding**


	22. Bonding

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 22: Bonding**

It was the end of another training day for Yamato's team, they had done a couple of D-Ranked missions and now he was just finishing up some training with them all. But he had one last thing to do with the team as they were gathered up in front of him. The training so far was going okay although it could be better especially the teamwork between them all. He was trying to get Sakurai and Minato to really get used to being on the same page so that they could learn to use their Fox chakra appropriately.

But there still seemed to be some walls between them and maybe they all needed time to feel more like friends than teammates, and Yuki could definitely need some kind of human contact in her life.

"Alright I think we're done for the day," Yamato told them. "I know it's a bit early but I was hoping the three of you could spend the rest of the day together."

"Huh, why?" Minato asked him not that he minded but it was kind of an odd request.

"I think you all should get to know each other outside of training." Yamato explained. "You see I think it will help all three of you to bond as a team."

"I don't mind," Minato shrugged as he wouldn't mind spending time with Sakurai although Yuki was still a bit of an oddball that he really didn't know all that well.

Sakurai looked at her teammates she didn't have anything planned for the day and maybe she could get Yuki to open up? It would be nice to have a female friend her own age for once although she was still a little uncertain being too close to Minato. It had been a week since that day when Minato had shown off his new seal and the whole thing with her hiding against the tree with a new genjutsu. She had gotten over the anger for it but she still felt really embarrassed. It had been an accident and he had spent days apologising to her.

She had told him that she forgave the accident just to have him stop as it was getting annoying. Plus Sakura had a talk with her and said that she can't hold things like that against him forever. So Sakurai had forgiven him but she still felt unsure around him. It just seemed that things seemed to happen, first had been that incident between them when they first unleashed their biju chakra and then the whole tree thing on top of that.

But she knew she couldn't ignore him forever, hell he was the only real friend she had her own age and the only one that could really understand her given their shared origins. Maybe she was just worried for nothing, after all they had been training with their Biju chakra for the week and they had slowly been making progress and nothing happened between them like that first time.

"I guess it couldn't hurt, right?" Sakurai asked the others.

They all looked to Yuki who looked blankly back at them before speaking. "I have no problems with this."

"Good then," Yamato smiled. "Okay then, you all have a good day." He watched them leave and he hoped that this would help set the three of them up as friends. He felt that they needed that bond for the future and all three of them could benefit for different reasons.

The three of them walked through the village a little unsure of what to do. Minato was on the end with Yuki in the middle and Sakurai on the other side.

"So...what do you like to do?" Minato asked Yuki trying to come up with something to say.

"Reading." She told him.

"Like what?" Sakurai remembered she liked that but she had never said what.

"Anything," Yuki told them.

"So...nothing is your favorite?" Minato asked scrunching his face up.

"Yes."

Sakurai had an idea, "So you want to visit a book store?"

"Yes." Yuki told them as she seemed to get a bit more interested in the idea although it was hard for the other two to tell. The pale girl's face was kind of blank most of the time.

"Maybe I can find a book on sealing," Minato muttered although he never really bothered with books before he was finding sealing techniques kind of interesting. Although they did seem kind of complicated and he sometimes needed a book to explain the other book but he was making slow progress. The tracking seal he made seemed to work really well, he still wasn't sure on the range but he was interested in what else he could learn to make.

Sakurai led them to a good book store she knew as they spent time looking around. Minato found a decent book on simple seals that he could use to practice, Sakurai found a nice little novel that looks interesting. When they found Yuki she was carrying a dozen books to the checkout counter.

"A-are you seriously going to read all of those?" Minato asked sweat dropping a little.

"Yes."

"You really like reading," Sakurai said just as shocked.

"Yes."

Yuki after paying decided to seal them all up into a scroll, Minato noticed that on the scroll she used the seals all read 'book' on them. He suddenly realized this girl carried a small library on her at all times. Looking at her he thought he could see she was actually very pleased with herself it was the first real emotion he had seen in the girl.

He shared a look with Sakurai as both just shrugged at each other. With that they left the store although they weren't sure what to do next. Sakurai and Minato were throwing out ideas as Yuki walked between them her face buried into one of her books. They were taking a path that had a fence on either side as they were about to hit an intersection.

Minato was too busy trying to see if they wanted to get a snack together and didn't noticed another group coming the other way, although in his defense they weren't paying attention either as they too were in the middle of a similar conversation. Both which stopped as soon as there was a sudden smash as two boys collided with each other, Minato landed on his butt as his head had slammed into someone else's head.

"That hurt," Both boys said at once grabbing their heads. Both suddenly looked at each other as they each suddenly recognized each other.

"Ah, it's you!" Both boys said pointing to the other.

"You're the boss' little bro!" Konohamaru shouted out.

"Konohamaru!" Minato shouted back, he had memories of the boy from Naruto although those memories were years old and Konohamaru was now his own age. He had seen the boy here and there usually with Naruto but he had only spoken to the boy a few times.

"Are you two okay?" This came from the female of the other group, Moegi the red headed girl looked at them both.

"I think so, you?" Minato asked Konohamaru.

"Yeah," The other boy told him and got back onto his feet. He dusted himself off as he, Moegi and Udon stood to face Minato, Sakurai and Yuki.

"Sorry about that," Minato scratched the back of his head. "Wasn't looking where I was going."

"No worries I wasn't either," Konohamaru grinned back at him. "We just got done with our sensei and had the day off."

"Hey, same here!" Minato grinned as an idea hit him. "You guys want to hang out?"

Minato figured that they could all hang out, honestly he wanted to get to know Konohamaru more as the boy had grown a lot in the last few years. He also knew that he didn't know many people his own age and maybe with more people they could get Yuki to open up more with some others.

"I don't mind," Moegi spoke up smiling. "We were going to get something to get some icecream if you want to come with us."

"I'd like that," Sakurai had a couple of memories of a younger Moegi so it would be nice to see how things were now.

The six of them walked through the streets to head for the park area. The park was built in the new center of the village, which had been the major impact area of Pain's attack. The depression had been modified into a multilevel area with a park in the center. The six of them found a stand that sold ice cream, as many others were there of various ages.

It was in a nice little area surrounded by grass, a few trees and of course wooden benches for people to sit at and enjoy themselves.

"Man I wonder if they'll ever make a ramen flavored ice cream," Minato muttered to himself looking at the menu on the side of the stand that showed what was for sale.

Sakurai made a face, "Seriously you got to start eating more than just that, you don't want to remain short your entire life do you?"

"Hey Naruto eats it all the time and he's taller than Sakura," Minato told her.

"Didn't he go on this training trip for two years though?" Sakurai told him knowing the story from Sakura. "I'm sure that Jiraiya got him to eat other things."

"Doesn't mean he didn't eat any ramen in that time," Minato muttered pouting slightly.

"So what do you want Yuki?" Moegi asked the pale girl who was looking at the menu almost lost in the list.

"What, you never had ice cream before?" Konohamaru asked the girl who just shook her head. "What!? How can you not have had it before?"

"Only rations." She replied.

"Huh?" The three of Konohamaru's group said at once.

"I think she means that in ROOT they only gave food rations?" Sakurai asked the girl thinking she got what she was trying to say. Yuki nodded as Sakurai decided to start the girl off on the basics. She got a vanilla cone for herself and Yuki as she handed the girl the cone.

"Here try this just don't eat it too fast," Sakurai told her.

She nodded as she looked at the white substance, she could feel the coldness in the cone and saw others licking while others took small bites. So she decided to take a lick, she felt the cold cream hit her tongue her eyes lit up.

"Looks like she likes it," Konohamaru smiled getting his own cone.

Yuki started to eat a bit faster now as she was losing herself into the taste.

"Whoa, whoa, go slow," Sakurai warned her.

Yuki suddenly winced as a cold pain suddenly shot through her body going right to her brain.

"That's why you can't eat too fast," Sakurai told her. "That's called an ice cream headache, so let it pass and take it easy okay?"

Yuki nodded waiting for it to pass and then slowly started to eat it.

"So when are you guys going to go on a real mission?" Konohamaru asked Minato as he looked proudly saying the next line. "We've already done a few C-class missions."

"Well, we'll get our chance to do C-Class too soon, just you wait," Minato told the other boy.

"Yeah but you'll have to catch up to us first and my team is awesome," Konohamaru grinned.

"Yeah well, we're going to do more C-Class missions than you I bet plus I'm already getting stronger as is everyone else," Minato said back to him. "I already got the rasengan down now and I'm learning to do seals."

"Seals?"

"Yeah check this out," Minato told him showing off the seal bracelet he came up with.

"Boys," Moegi sighed seeing Konohamaru and Minato trying to outdo the other. "At least you're not like that Udon."

"I'm not that type of personality," He admitted as he was perfectly good not standing out.

"Still those two I'm not sure are going to be good friends or rivals," Sakurai sighed seeing the two boys now getting into who was stronger. If this kept up they would most likely start to spar to actually see who was stronger.

"Well I think for them this is normal," Moegi spoke up to Sakurai. "Konohamaru never had someone his own age that he felt could push him to get stronger and I think Minato is the same."

Sakurai looked at the two boys and she had to smile, it kind of reminded her of the memories of Sakura and Ino. Well that was all well and good but she could use friendships more than a rival at the moment. Sitting with Udon, Moegi and even Yuki watching the two other boys she couldn't help but feel a bit of a smile.

It was a small step but she felt like for the first time maybe she and Minato had started to make some friends of their own.

**-Training Area-**

Naruto was currently fighting Lee in a taijutsu battle in the middle of one of the larger training areas. Both young men were fired up as Naruto was trying to get his taijutsu skills up and he couldn't think of anyone better than Lee to help him out with that. Although the green clothed boy didn't know the meaning of the word restraint or even taking it easy as he was going all out on Naruto. For Naruto it was tough to only use taijutsu skills against Lee, he couldn't use his shadow clones to help out, no sage mode or even Kurama's chakra.

Naruto never knew how hard it was to just fight like this and this was how Lee had to do things all the time, it was no wonder the boy's training was so insane it was the only way he could keep up with everyone else. Naruto had to use everything he could just to keep ahead of Lee and he knew that the boy could go even faster and tougher if he opened those gates inside of him. Thankfully he wasn't doing that but Lee was the type that he might just do it if he felt he had to take things up to the next level.

Naruto managed to jumped out of the way of one of Lee's kicks, which when impacted into the ground which nearly made a small hole.

"Hey are you using your weights or not?" Naruto asked him.

Lee paused as he blinked at him, "of course they're on." He pulled down the orange leg warmers to show the heavy weights.

"Just checking," Naruto sweat dropped if he didn't know any better he swore that Lee had increased the weight since last time.

Lee got back into his fighting stance as he came at Naruto again, Naruto was wondering he should start on some weight training, without using chakra Lee's strength and speed as just too insane. Then again this was a great way to keep his physical skills up as there was no one better than Lee to really push you to the wall.

The two started to amp it up a bit going a little faster and harder, Naruto ducked under a high kick of Lee's that flew past his head and into the tree Naruto had felt behind him. Naruto ducked and rolled while Lee's kick had actually cracked the trunk of the tree, shattering the bark and wooden core.

"Okay I think that's enough," Naruto told him holding up a hand knowing if they kept this up they might push things a bit too far, plus he didn't want to go to the hospital and then get a lecture from Sakura. Although he loved it that she cared for his well being he never liked getting lectured.

"But I'm just getting fired up Naruto-kun!" Lee was seething with energy.

"Come on man if you two keep this up they'll have to fix this training area," Kiba told them from a tree not too far away. Kiba was sitting down next to Akamaru petting his dog, along with him was Shino standing in his large coat. Choji and Shikamaru were there as well with Sai all gathered around watching the event.

It was something the guys liked to do when they all had downtime together to have some friendly sparring to see how each other rated. They usually did various rules to spice things up at the moment it had been Naruto and Lee's turn at it. Both young men walked towards their friends gathered up.

"I swear the ones that have to fix these areas most likely curse you two nearly daily," Shikamaru told them. "Given the amount of times you guys have trashed a training area."

"I don't do it that often," Naruto muttered although thinking about it he did wonder who did have to fix them all. He had left a few training areas kind of trashed a few times and he had never really thought about how they were fixed up.

"Well, look who finally showed up," Kiba said with a grin as Neji finally made his way here. "You're late you know that."

"Apologies," Neji told them walking to their area. "I had to deal with some issues at home before I could leave."

"You'd think someone that died would have been more appreciating of timing," Kiba joked at him.

Neji scowled at that remark, back during the war a lot of people had died Neji had taken a blow that would have killed Hinata. He didn't remember much about after everyone kept asking him about it as well as anyone else that had died in the war. None of them could remember much but there had been some vague memories. He thought he had seen his father and then the next thing he knew he was gasping for breath on a battlefield.

He was told later that Obito had used the last of his life to bring back some of those that had died, not everyone had made it only those close enough to him he had been one of the lucky ones. Although it had been rough for him and the others that came back like himself. There were the looks he and others like him got, the looks that said 'why you and not someone else' by those who had lost people who hadn't come back.

It was a question he had asked himself given so many had died, why did he return while others didn't? There were plenty of other Hyuga that hadn't made it as well from both the main and branch members.

"That's enough Kiba," Shikamaru said in a slightly more harsh tone than the boy normally would say which meant they all took notice.

"Sorry man," Kiba said remembering that his and Ino's father had been too far away to be brought back.

There was an awkward silence at that point as no one really knew what to say. It was Sai of all people that decided to break the situation, he once read that humor could help break tense moments.

"So has Sakura seen your small dick yet Naruto?" Sai asked him.

"What the hell Sai!?" Naruto shouted out getting red faced. He had thought that the boy had stopped with that crap. "And it's not small you jerk!"

"Oh so she has seen it then," Sai said in his usual carefree tone.

"We haven't gotten that far yet!" Naruto really didn't know how to handle Sai when he got like this. If Sakura was here she would have tried to punch Sai's head into the ground while Naruto would have tried to hold her back. Actually at this point maybe he would have just let Sakura do her thing.

"Yosh!" Lee shouted his fist thrust up into the air. "Naruto-kun your defense of Sakura-san is most youthful, it is only right that my good rival as a ninja and in love got Sakura-san's heart!"

"Uh, yeah thanks," Naruto wasn't sure why Lee seemed so fired up hell he knew the guy had a long time crush on Sakura almost as long as his own. Actually he had heard that Lee had looked depressed but apparently Gai said something to him that got the boy all fired up again.

"Well I bet you're happy that you finally got together with Sakura," Choji told them pulling out a snack. "You've been after her since we were all in the academy."

Naruto grinned as he scratched the back of his head his cheeks reddening a bit. "Yeah it sure took me some time but it was worth it."

"Yeah although some girls didn't take it well," Shikamaru commented knowing full well that after the war Naruto had gotten kind of popular with some of the female population. He had seen it personally although Naruto was oblivious to some of the flirting that went on, most likely because he wasn't used to that kind of attention and his focus was only on a single girl.

"I know that all too well," Neji sighed knowing that Hinata had been in a depressed state ever since the news broke. Although he knew that Naruto wasn't totally aware of the girl's feelings Neji was really tempted sometimes to give him a smack to the back of the head. Maybe now was time to get some work out of the way.

"Whose free for a spar?" Neji asked looking around.

"I'll be your opponent," Sai spoke up as he got his scrolls ready.

Neji nodded as the former ROOT ninja had very good and unique skills that you didn't find often. It was good to fight someone like that to help you cope when you come up against the unusual or unexpected. As the two got the center of the field Naruto and Lee took spots by the trees with the others as they got to watch the show.

Naruto sat down as he sighed, for the first time in a really long time he felt really content. The war was over, Sasuke was out there finding himself and he hoped that he would see his 'brother' again on day, he had a lot of good friends. He also found himself a cousin and little brother of all things, to top it off he also had the love of his life as his girlfriend. Sure he had things to do but honestly at this point in his life through all the struggling, pain and loss it had worked out well all things considered.

Sure he had plenty of things he still wanted to do but at the moment he wanted to enjoy these times with everyone.

**-Elsewhere-**

While the boys were hanging out sparring some of the girls were hanging out as well. Sakura had plans to meet up with Ino as both had a free day for once. They managed to pick up Tenten along the way as the three of them were currently walking through the main merchant district. Each of them wanted to go to a different store, Sakura wanted to look to see if a new shipment of herbs she was trying to get her hands on for a new herbal tea she was trying out.

Tenten wanted to look around for a couple of new weapons to add to her arsenal and Ino wanted to look for some new clothing. So the girls decided they would each visit each store, for the order one who went first they had a three-way battle of rock-paper-scissors, which was why they were currently in a clothing store since Ino won out.

"I really don't see anything I like here," Tenten sighed.

"Actually I think you would look great in this," Ino held up a red Chinese style dress in front of the girl.

"I'm not sure this is my style," Tenten sweat dropped at the flashy looking material as she stepped back she saw the back of it. "Hold on there's no back to this!"

"Yeah, so?" Ino said looking at the exposed back of the dress.

"I can't wear something like that," Tenten told her. "I wouldn't be able to wear a bra or wraps under something like that."

Ino blinked waiting to see what her point was but then noticed the older girl had stopped. "Well that's boring of you."

"What," Tenten said evenly.

"You need to be a bit more adventurous, the whole tomboy thing may work for some people but honestly if you never show off a little, you'll never get the attention of a boy someday." Ino explained.

Tenten's face reddened a bit, "Why is that important? I have plenty of time for that later and I'm trying to focus on my career."

"Sure there's nothing wrong with that," Ino said putting the dress away. "But you can also do both, I don't want to look back on my youth and regret anything. Like you said there is time but if you also don't enjoy yourself then what's the point? Look at Lady Tsunade, she's an amazing ninja but she's still single and now it might be too late for her."

Ino didn't want to tarnish the image of their leader as she had nothing but respect for the woman, but knowing how much of a fan Tenten was of Tsunade might hammer the point home. Tenten tried to come up with a counter argument but she was coming up blank. Although she did idolize Tsunade and hoped to be a ninja of that calibre one day, but she also couldn't ignore that Tsunade was in her fifties and still single and most likely way past the age to marry or have kids.

"Just think on it," Ino told her. "Don't be afraid to let your hair down...maybe literally."

She paused to look at the girl with her twin buns. "You ever let your hair out of those things? I bet you would look super cute with it down."

"I just like to keep them like this because it stays out of the way," Tenten told her feeling her buns. Would she look 'cute' with her hair down?

While Ino was working on Tenten, Sakura couldn't help but hear it all and it started to get her thinking. What would make her look good in Naruto's eyes? She wasn't sure what caught his eye as he never complimented her clothing before. She did wear a lot of skirts so did he like that she wore those? She shifted a little uncomfortably wondering if he liked the fact that he could see her legs or was it something else?

She was a shirt with a V-neck on it but sighed looking down, she wasn't the most endowed girl of her friends. Sure she had grown a bit since she graduated but not as much as she would have liked. She wasn't sure if she could pull off the look. Maybe she should focus on other ideas she thought to herself looking around.

"Wondering what Naruto will like you in?" Ino's voice whispered into Sakura's ear.

Sakura jumped and looked back to see Ino with a smirk on her face with Tenten holding the red dress her cheeks slightly red.

"W-well why shouldn't I?" Sakura asked her. "I mean I do have a boyfriend right."

Ino faltered a bit knowing full well that Sakura had used that against her. "Well just you wait about that, I can get myself a great guy if I really wanted, besides you're just trying to distract me."

'_Damn it, worth a try.'_ Sakura mentally sighed.

"Now what would our resident heroic idiot like you in?" Ino looked at the clothing Sakura was looking at.

Sakura sighed in defeat knowing her friend wouldn't let go of this. "I don't know, he'd most likely say I would look great in a sack."

"He most likely would mean it too," Ino giggled. "That boy is way too honest sometimes with his feelings."

"I like his honesty," Sakura blushed slightly.

Ino grinned as she led the girl's deeper into the store, "Well since he would like anything you wore on the outside how about we see what to wear under it." Ino looked around and came back with a red silk and a sexy set of panties and bra.

"Here you go and it's red too I know you like the color." Ino smiled showing them the set.

Both Sakura and Tenten blushed as Sakura broke first, "I can't wear that, it hardly covers anything!"" She then clapped a hand over her mouth realizing she was in a store and a few patrons looked in their direction.

"Well you don't have to wear it for long, just until the date ends," Ino really loved pushing her buttons like this it was just too funny. "I mean you go on a nice date and he takes you back to his place where there are no parents around. You lead him into his bed room and slowly start-"

"Enough," Sakura's face was full on red now as she waved her hands. "There is no way I'm ready for anything like that. God, what's gotten into you?"

"Oh come on you can't just take a joke," Ino placed the garment back. "But you really should think about it, the time you are ready you really want his jaw to hit the floor. After all it would be a special time for the both of you and with no parents around you don't have to worry about someone walking in."

"Minato lives there too you know," Sakura told her as she really didn't want to picture what that would do for the poor boy to hear...those sounds...coming from Naruto's room.

Ino snapped her fingers, "Damn forgot about the Chibi."

"I don't think he would like being called that," Sakura told her.

"Oh please he's just so cute and he is like a Chibi-Naruto, almost like a living bit plushy doll," Ino laughed as she got the mental image. "Huh, I wonder how much we could make of Naruto plushy dolls these days?"

"You are not making a plush anything about my boyfriend," Sakura said starting to get defensive. It was bad enough to know that certain girls still had a thing for Naruto. Karin hadn't taken the news very well, in fact the red head had been pretty cold to Sakura lately. Well she could understand that but still it was a bit annoying to Sakura. Hinata, well for her Sakura felt sorry for but the girl should have tried harder to get Naruto to notice her more.

Sure it was a bit cold sounding but the girl's shyness had worked against her for too long. Sakura did feel for the girl, it was never nice to have your heart broken and she hated that she had helped to cause it but Naruto's feelings had been set and Sakura had finally accepted them and returned them. She did hope that Hinata did heal from it and that one day she could find a boy that could love her in return like the girl deserved.

Ino shrugged, "It was just an idea, what about you Tenten. You think you want to try a little something sexy to wear under that dress?"

Tenten blushed again, "Can we please go to the weapon shop after this?" She sighed.

**Next up Chapter 23: The First C Mission**


	23. The First C Class Mission

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 23: The First C Mission**

It was another day in Konoha as Yamato lead his team to the Hokage's office. In the last couple of weeks things had been slowly improving among them. Their training was going well, their teamwork was starting to improve and the new training with Sakurai and Minato about learning to control their Biju chakra seemed to be going well. Also their individual training he had seen some improvements. Minato seemed to really be getting into seals, after he managed to get a better understanding of the basics the boy kept trying out new ideas and experimenting.

Although his experiments usually ended in failure that did stop the boy, in fact he just said it only gave him an idea of what not to try next time. Sakurai's work with Kurenai was starting to show its own fruit. Her genjutsu was starting to show great improvement as the girl seemed a natural with it. Yuki's own growth was more of a personal thing, the more time she spent with her teammates it seemed it helped to slowly ease the quiet girl out of her shell.

All in all, Yamato was proud of how his team was doing.

"Hey, Yamato-sensei?" Minato asked their jonin teacher.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, when can we do something more than just a D rank mission?" Minato asked him lately he felt like they could do more if they wanted to. Plus he was eager to show what he could do, they have been training a lot lately and he felt stronger and better than ever. He was way better than when he remembered that mission to Wave. Hell they were a lot stronger team since then and that mission had gone straight up several levels.

Although he was well aware it hadn't been 'him' in those memories but he still remembered those events as if he had gone through him. To him those events had only happened half a year ago even if they did happen more like nearly four years ago. Still the odds of them going on a mission where the client lied and ended up facing a rogue ninja that was one of the world's deadliest swordsman and his ice using assassin partner was rare.

Yamato looked to the others, "What do you all say about that?"

Sakurai thought about it, she would like to do more than just D rank missions. She was stronger now than ever and she had been learning a lot under Kurenai as well. Plus if she ever wanted to get out from under Sakura's shadow and make her own way in life she needed to get out there and show everyone she was more than just "Sakura's Clone" or the nicer "Sakura's little sister", which she preferred as being called a clone made her feel uneasy.

Thankfully her family or anyone used that to her face but sometimes she heard it whispered by others on the street now and again. She hated that term, even though it was what she was she didn't feel like a clone, a copy. She wanted to prove that and she felt it was time to do just that.

"I think we should try for something else, a C rank should be okay with our skills." Sakurai told him.

Yamato nodded and looked to Yuki.

Yuki stared back at him blankly, to her a mission was a mission. She was told and trained from her earliest memories that the mission was everything. To complete the mission was the only goal to have no matter what the cost, even if it was her own life. So for her if her team wanted to do a more difficult mission she would just complete that as well.

"I will complete any mission I'm given." She told him.

"See even she agrees," Minato pointed out although everyone else knew that Yuki didn't actually 'agree' per say she just said she would accept any mission.

Still Yamato looked them all over, they had made strives lately and maybe it was time to trust them on something bigger. He couldn't keep them in the village forever and eventually they would have to go on missions of higher risk. It also wouldn't be like they would go alone as he would go with them.

"Alright tell you all what, when we get to see the Hokage I'll ask if there are any C rank missions that we can do."

"Alright!" Minato pumped his fist up nearly jumping for joy, Sakurai seemed pleased as well and as for Yuki...well she was Yuki.

They went into the Hokage's office as Tsunade was there behind her desk working as usual. Papers and scrolls where there and so was her assistant Shizune standing behind the lady. Yamato had made his request of her as she looked at him and his team thinking on it.

"So you all want a C Rank mission then?" Tsunade asked the group.

"Yeah," Minato nodded.

"We would like that Tsunade-sama," Sakurai said a bit more respectfully as Yuki remained as she usually did.

Yamato stood up straight in front of the leader of the village. "I believe my team is ready for something a bit more if you have it Tsunade-sama. They have trained hard and they are ready for more duties for the village."

Tsunade nodded as she thought about it, the world wasn't as dangerous these days after the war. There were still some things out there, some of the ninjas that survived the war didn't like the peace and ended up leaving to strike out on their own. With the losses all the villages had the military might of the five great nations had suffered. Some of the smaller nations with smaller ninja villages thought to try and test the waters to expand their influence, territory or power.

Plus with less military power came a surge in crime, sure there were the local samurai to keep order but the larger criminal groups tended to try and grab for more power as well. Normally when a criminal group got too big the lord of that land sought out ninjas to help find and cull the group.

In this 'era of peace' as it was being called, bandits and other criminals were pushing the boundaries to see how far they could get before the hammer came down. Tsunade pulled out a sheet of a request from the lord's office.

"One of the main trade routes is being attacked by a group of bandits. Form all reports it's the same group."

"Casualties?" Yamato asked as bandits came in two forms. The more professional ones just robbed you, the more chaotic ones tended to kill everyone either so no one could identify them later or just because they wanted to.

"Light so far," Tsunade read the papers. "When someone tries to fight back or refuse to hand something over they tend to make an example out of that person and then the rest do as they are told."

Yamato put that away for later, to him that told him they were dealing with hardened professionals. They didn't mind killing if it was needed but weren't ruled by any bloodlust.

"Strength?" Yamato asked her.

"Unconfirmed but no ninjas were ever reported, no sign of any kind of ninjutsu used by them and no more than eight men were seen at a time."

Yamato nodded if they were just a bandit gang of less than a dozen men it might be alright for his team. They could take on a rugged band of criminals with the training they had. If anything unexpected happened he could always step in as well. It seemed like your straight forward mission and they were eager.

"If you'll permit it, I would like to put my team forward for this mission," Yamato told her.

Tsunade nodded, "Very well then. I'll start on the paper work, come back later this afternoon for the official mission and get your team ready to leave for tomorrow."

Yamato nodded his head, "Thank you Lady Tsunade."

With that Team Yamato left the office as both Minato and Sakurai were eager to get started. After Yamato gave them their instructions they all scattered to get started.

Minato rushed home quickly to pack, when he got into the apartment he noticed he was the only one around. So he went straight to his room and searched for his new backpack. He wasn't sure exactly what to take but he just started getting things he might need and placed them on the ground. He found his extra weapons and some of the seals he had been working on. A few were simple things like for storage but he had been working on paper bombs. He had always wondered how they worked, you had to use ink that was charged with chakra with a special paper. Of course he made these in a training area just in case he screwed up.

The front door opened as Naruto's voice called out.

"Hey I'm home."

"In here," Minato called back as Naruto walked into the room seeing everything spread out.

"What's up?"

"We got our first C Class mission!" Minato grinned at him before looking around what he needed.

"Cool!" Naruto crouched next to him looking at everything. "Congratulations, you need any advice on what to take?"

"Sure, I'm not sure how long this will take," Minato explained what he remembered about the mission. He hoped that since Naruto was more experienced than himself, then he could get some good advice on what to take. It was really nice having someone he could get advice from at any time, like a real big brother. He listened in as Naruto told him what he thought about and the reasons for it.

While they were dealing with this in the Haruno home Sakurai was finishing up her packing. She had arrived home to tell her mother about the mission and she would be gone for a few days at the most before going to her room and getting everything ready. Her room had slowly been filled over the months as she slowly made the place her own.

What stood out was the new photo on her desk where her scrolls and text on genjutsu were located. In it was the new family photo that they had all made a few weeks back. In it were the Haruno parents in the back with their hands on the shoulders of their two daughters. Sakurai had to admit that the photo to her was one of her most previous items as it made her feel like she was really part of the family.

She placed her backpack on the bed as she was giving it a second look to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

A slight knock on her door frame got her attention as she looked to see Sakura standing there.

"Hey mom told me the news, first C Rank mission huh?" Sakura smiled at her.

"Yep, I think I got everything. You know I'm kind of nervous but I'm looking forward to it too." Sakurai checked to make sure her pack had all the pockets secured.

"I know that feeling," Sakura nodded her head as she gave the pack a quick look. It looked pretty standard to her but knowing the young girl she would have thought of all the things needed for a mission. Sakura dug into her pocket and showed her the item she had.

"Remember to bring any of these?" Sakura asked.

Sakurai blinked, "Ear plugs?"

"If Minato is like Naruto, he likes to talk in his sleep sometimes," Sakura informed him. Being on a few missions with Naruto she learned firsthand about this. He also liked to move around sometimes but that was manageable. Over time she had gotten used to it and didn't need them anymore but Sakurai might.

"Oh, yeah I might need those thanks," Sakurai generously took them and placed them somewhere she could get to them at night.

"Nervous?" Sakura asked the younger girl.

"A little," Sakurai told her honestly as she sat on her bed. "I mean I know I have your memories of the first mission and some of the chunin exam so it's not like I'm not mentally prepared. It's just that this is _my_ first real mission."

"I'm sure things will go fine, Yamato is a great captain and you're in good hands with him."

"I know he's been great, I just really want this to go well because this is the first real step as a ninja to me. All the training and everything has been leading up to this, I just hope that I can pull my weight." Sakurai still had a lot of the insecurities that Sakura had at that age.

Sakura sat down next to the girl knowing what she was feeling. "To tell the truth I know how you feel. Even today I still wish I was stronger."

"You?" Sakurai had seen what Sakura could do the older girl could literally dent the earth with her own fists.

"Yeah I know," Sakura smiled. "In the war I learned what I'm good and what I'm lacking in. It always seemed like I was seeing the backs of Naruto and Sasuke-kun, and even now I know that I couldn't beat Naruto in a fight. He's gotten a lot stronger and it just seems no matter how hard I try I can't catch up to him."

"But you know he's never made me feel inferior," Sakura smiled as unlike Sasuke, Naruto had always encouraged her. "I know that my main strength is to support him and I'm fine with that. If he falls I'll be there to help him up and when he's hurt I'll be there to fix him up. If he's being an idiot I'll also be there to knock some sense into him." She winced at the girl who giggled.

"Naruto is a lot of things but even he can't do everything. So I decided that as a team I would be the one to help him with the things he can't do. Sometimes I still feel like I wish I could do more but being part of a team is knowing that everyone has a unique role. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and it's up to everyone to work together to cover each other's weaknesses with their combined strengths."

Sakurai thought about her words and they did seem to resonate within her. Minato had gotten stronger and Yuki had a lot of skills for someone so young but she hadn't slacked off either. Her skills had increased with all the new training and with her genjutsu skills also growing she could throw out illusions in battle to help the team out.

Maybe this mission will help teach them what role they would have together like Sakura had said.

"Thanks," Sakurai told her feeling a bit less nervous about the mission.

"Hey aren't big sisters supposed to be the kind of person to help out with advice?" Sakura told her.

Sakurai had a small smile on her face about that it really did feel like a moment between sisters they were having. It felt nice as neither of them knew what it was like to have sisters until recently.

"So I take it that with both me and Minato gone you'll have more time to be along with Naruto then?" Sakurai teased her slightly.

Sakura blushed a bit caught off guard by that, "I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"Uh huh, I know how you think and I know what I would have liked with a boyfriend with a place all his own too you know, especially since you don't have to worry about mom or dad coming into your room." Sakurai told her.

"Oh shut up," Sakura said bumping her slightly with her shoulder. "Don't be a brat when we were getting along."

"Aren't siblings also supposed to tease the other as well?"

Both sisters smiled as they were slowly getting used to being a family and everything that entitled. So Sakura decided to try her own hand at this.

"Well then at least you're used to those whisker marks on your cheeks," She told her.

Sakurai placed a hand to one of her cheeks, sometimes she forgot they were there but she was starting to get used to them. "Well better this then a big diamond on my big forehead."

"This is the Byakugo no In, the Strength of a Hundred Seal." Sakura said in defence of the diamond mark on her forehead she had gotten in the war. "It took me three years to make this seal and the only other person who has it is Tsunade-sama."

"Wait that took three years?" Sakurai hadn't known that part. She had asked about that not long after she started living here as at first she had thought it was some kind of mark or tattoo even. Sakura had explained it as a special charka reserve.

"Yes it takes a long time to build up the chakra for it, plus Naruto said it looked cute on me," She blushed a bit as she remembered him telling her not long after they had gotten together when he kissed her forehead. He always made her feel better about her large forehead, something she had always had issues with but with Naruto he turned those issues into something she didn't have to worry or think about.

Sakurai smiled seeing the look on Sakura's face. "He's really good to you huh?"

Sakura nodded, "Yeah in fact he's always kind of been. Sometimes I wish I had given him a chance sooner, all that time I wasted." She sighed looking up.

Sakurai was silent for a moment as she saw the look on Sakura's face, the older girl really did wish things could have been different and it made her question a few things of her own she had been thinking about. "Well you two are together now right? You got all that time ahead of you."

Sakura's smile slowly returned, "Yeah we do huh? I keep thinking that I wish I would change things but I keep forgetting that I have a lot of time with him now. Maybe I'm just greedy and want more."

"Well I think I have everything," Sakurai said looking at her pack.

"So what now?"

"I think I'll kill some time," Sakurai pushed herself off the bed. "Then I'll meet up with my team for the mission details."

"Sounds like a plan," Sakura said as she was making plans herself on what to do next and she had a good idea of who to spend some time with.

**-Later that Day-**

At Naruto's apartment both Naruto and Sakura were on his couch, tea was in front of them as Sakura was sitting back with Naruto's arm around her shoulders. Even though she was alone with her boyfriend she couldn't get her mind off the fact that Sakurai and the others were on their first mission. She felt glad that Sakurai was on her way to becoming her own person and ninja but she couldn't help but worry.

She wondered if this was how her parents felt on the first time she went on a major mission or any mission now that she thought about it. She hated to think that her parents got this worried all the time with her over the years.

"Hey what's wrong?" Naruto asked noticing that she had gotten pretty quiet and that her face had fallen a bit.

"I'm just worried about them is all, it's their first mission outside of the village." She told him honestly.

"Oh don't worry about it, I bet they'll do great just like we did." Naruto told her hoping that reminding her about how they all had made it back from their own first major mission.

Sakura's eyes widened at that comment as she quickly turned to face him. "Okay? Naruto that mission was a disaster!"

"It wasn't that bad," Naruto muttered.

"Not that bad?" Sakura shifted around to face him on the couch. "Naruto first we were lied to about what the mission was, then we get attacked by those two ninja that made me think Kakashi-sensei had been torn apart before you got stabbed in the hand." She couldn't remember the names of those ninja, in fact she hadn't thought about them in years and wondered whatever happened to them.

She shook her head and got back on track. "You got poisoned and then you had to stab your hand to get it out, which by the way you will never, ever do again." She poked him in the chest.

"God do you have any idea how damaging that is? Not only could you get an infection but you can damage so many delicate bones and tendons in your hand alone than on anywhere else on your body."

"But you know Kurama will heal something like that, in fact he did heal up my hand see?" He showed her the hand he had stabbed all those years ago. "See not even a scar."

"That's not the point," Sakura puffed out her cheeks she just didn't want him to do something like that without her around. "I'm a medic now and injuries should be dealt with properly."

Naruto grinned knowing that she was just the type that worried about him but didn't like to say it. She preferred to keep him healthy herself.

"Then let's not forget that we ran into one of the deadliest missing ninjas from the Mist village. Then we get into the actual town and the whole thing with you and Inari."

"Hey we worked things out," Naruto protested.

"Naruto you looked like you wanted to throttle him at least twice," Sakura said back.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Well I didn't say it was easy."

"Then the whole battle on the bridge which I was totally worthless, Sasuke-kun nearly died from all those senbon needles."

"Haku made sure they weren't lethal you know."

"I know but that scared both of use when we thought he was dead, hell he looked dead! Then that guy showed up...what was his name again? Something with a G in his name..." Sakura tried to remember but that was years ago.

"Gator?" Naruto thought.

"It wasn't an animal- Gato! That's it," Sakura snapped her fingers when she remembered. She sighed leaning back into the couch. "It was a total disaster and looking back on it, that seemed to be normal for our missions. We always ended up facing tougher enemies then we planned for or things don't go the way we expected them."

Naruto thought about it, he remembered the bridge where Kabuto and Orochimaru showed up and how that went south extremely quickly. He had let Kurama loose and he had run wild, even hurting Sakura. Thankfully he and Kurama had a much better relationship these days. Then when they tried to get Gaara back and the surprises they faced and what it cost to get Gaara back as well.

"I guess our missions do kind of get a bit exciting." He shrugged.

"That's one way of putting it," She rolled her eyes at the 'exciting' part. Only he would consider the kinds of things they faced that, well him and Lee as well now that she thought about it. "I just hope that they don't have the same luck we had in the past."

Naruto could see that she really was worried about them so he hugged her to him, "Hey we turned out fine and they've had some great training. Plus Yamato is with them as well and you know how tough he is. They'll be fine, I have faith in them and so should you."

She smiled at little feeling a little better, "I hope so. You always see the bright side of things don't you?"

"Hey someone has to," He smiled at her. "Besides we should believe in them."

She nodded as she rested up against him, "I know and I know that they're capable for this kind of mission and Yamato is with them but I can't help worry. She's really become like a little sister to me and I just want her to be safe, you know?"

He hugged her gently, "Yeah I do know, all my life I've wanted to be part of a family and now that I finally got part of it I don't want to lose that either."

Sakura knew that living alone had to have been hard on him growing up, looking back she could understand why he acted out as a child so that anyone would notice him. She wished she had known more back then, been his friend so he would have been less lonely. So she wanted to give him something else, give him memories that he could cherish and look back on fondly.

Plus they did have the whole place to themselves as she moved herself to straddled his waist her arms around his neck.

"I ever tell you that you're the best boyfriend?"

"Don't think so," he said feeling his heart starting to pick up. He wasn't sure if of where to place his hands just yet as he looked at the girl who had taken his heart years ago looking at him with a heated pair of lovely green eyes.

"Well you are," She smiled as she leaned down to capture his lips.

Naruto responded as his hands went to her hips holding her steady as they slowly kissed. Naruto loved how soft her lips were against his, he loved everything about this girl. Soon the two kept on going, not stopping with just one kiss as they explored their passion by steps. This was all still very new to the both of them as they just were enjoying each other.

Soon Naruto wanted to try something else, her neck was exposed as he leaned down to kiss the side of her neck. Sakura's reaction was immediate as she gasped at the unfamiliar and yet pleasured feeling. Her hand lightly gripped the golden spiky hair as she found she really liked what he was doing. She decided to try something else as she slowly nibbled on his ear.

She felt him jolt but he groaned at it as she mentally grinned finding a weak point of his own.

"Didn't know you were sensitive there," She whispered into his ear.

"M-me neither," Naruto gulped as when he felt her warm mouth on his ear lobe a jolt went through his spine. He surprisingly really liked it, he pulled her in close capturing her lips again, one of his hands ran through her pink hair as he took in the smell of her. She always smelt so nice to him, like the cheery blossoms she was named after. The two continued this for some time, never pushing too far but still enjoying the sensations they found.

Later on it was Naruto on his back as Sakura was on top of him the two resting against each other as she had her head on his chest his hand gently running through her hair. She sighed in contentment, all her worries were gone replaced by a very warm and fulfilled feeling. She could hear his heat steadily beating as it was almost lulling her to sleep.

For a long time Naruto had hoped to have a moment like this with Sakura, just a moment with the two of them alone and enjoying the moment and it was even better than he had imagined. She seemed to mold right into his body and he just wanted this moment to last forever. For years he had fantasized about having a relationship with the pink haired girl on him and finally he had it. It always felt like he was dreaming in these moments and was always afraid he might wake up.

Sakura just wanted to close her eyes and just fall asleep like this in fact she was tempted to just sleep until tomorrow like this and wake up with him in the morning. But she knew that her parents would be waiting for her to come home as they were having a dinner together before Sakurai left on her mission. Plus Minato could be coming back at any moment as well so with great reluctance she got off her comfortable spot.

"I should go soon mom is cooking a big dinner to wish Sakurai off tonight." Sakura sighed sitting up and straighten out her clothing as best she could. She scowled slightly at a few wrinkles but they weren't too noticeable.

"Aww, I liked you being here," Naruto pouted slightly which Sakura found kind of adorable in a kid kind of way.

Then Sakura had remembered something her mother once asked her about. At first she was kind of reluctant at the time but maybe this would be a good time to ask him. She was a bit more confident in their relationship and it might be good.

"Actually if you want, do you...want to come over for dinner sometime with my family?" She asked a little nervous.

"Really?" Naruto perked up at that, he had never been invited to someone's home for dinner before and this was Sakura of all people asking him. He always wondered what a real family dinner would be like. Of course this was also dinner with his girlfriend's family something he hadn't thought about before. He knew that the Haruno family was nice to him and treated him warmly. He found himself actually kind of looking forward to it.

Then he thought about Minato and he didn't want him to feel left out. Naruto knew the pain of what it was to be felt left out with a lot of kids back in the day didn't let him join them for games or to hang out after school.

"Uh...is it okay if Minato comes too?" Naruto asked her.

Sakura smiled knowing he was looking out for him, "Sure in fact I think my mom might insist on it."

It was true that her mother had told her that if she invited Naruto over for dinner one day he could invite Minato along as well. Although lately it seemed her mother kept asking Sakura when she was bringing over Naruto for a family meal a lot more. It was starting to get a little irritating but she knew it was because her parents wanted to get to know Naruto more since it was now out that they were dating.

"Well set something up after their mission then," Sakura told him as she got up and straightened out her skirt.

Naruto got up to walk her out as he opened the door for her. "Cool, I look forward to it. So...in the mean time I was thinking if you're not doing anything tomorrow afternoon..."

Sakura giggled as he seemed to struggle a bit with just asking her out still it felt nice being asked out by Naruto openly. She leaned in and gave him one last kiss on the lips. "Of course, just pick me up after my shift as I don't have anything major to do tomorrow."

Naruto's grin was huge, "Great I can't wait."

He watched her leave as Naruto felt like he missed her already but he was eager to see her again. He closed his door when she was out of sight and went back to the living room to clear away the tea cups. The tea had long since gotten cold as he threw it out and placed the cups into the sink. He'd get to them later although he could still smell Sakura's fragrance as he looked down at the black shirt her was wearing. He pulled it up and sniffed as he could smell her on his shirt which brought a smile to his face.

He was tempted not to wash this shirt until the smell went away but it wasn't like he wouldn't see her tomorrow or the even the day after that. Still he liked the way she smelled so maybe he'd keep the shirt as is, at least until tomorrow. Tomorrow was a big day for Minato as well, maybe taking him out to Ichiraku for tonight to celebrate, hell he would even pay for it all.

Naruto just hoped his poor wallet could handle it.

**Next up Chapter 24: Murphy's Law**


	24. Murphy's Law

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 24: Murphy's Law**

Team Yamato had left for their mission and met up with the next merchant group that was headed towards the area where the bandits were known to strike. Normally you would think that they would just take another route but this was a main merchant route for a reason. The route was heavily used because it led to a lot of crossroads. You could get to a lot of places taking this route which was why Konoha was contacted to deal with it.

The merchants complained and the Lord of the country couldn't let the flow of merchandise stop since that would harm their economy.

So Yamato headed to the town of the next major shipment and had his team dress up as civilians to blend in with the group. Minato was sitting in one of the caravans with Sakurai as Yamato and Yuki were in another one. The group was made up of several caravans that were making their way through the Fire Country.

Minato was getting a bit bored as they had been traveling for a couple of hours now and still nothing had happened. Although he knew that the civilians didn't want to get attacked but that also meant that whoever these guys were that were hitting the merchant caravans would still be out there.

He sighed as he sat bored as they were traveling along the same dirt road for so long that he was getting bored out of his mind. He was sitting up front with Sakurai next to the driver as he thought of asking a few questions while they were travelling.

"So what's so important with what you're carrying?" Minato asked the driver who was guiding the horses.

"Well we have a few things, some silk which is nice to sell anywhere, some spices but the major items we have are the salt and iron." The man told him.

"Wait salt?" Minato asked confused. "How is that important?"

"Salts used in all kinds of things," Sakurai told him listening in. "You can use to for cattle, it's for food as well as a few other products."

The man nodded, "that's true you can only get salt in the ground or on the coast. Since this country has a coast on the sea it's gathered up there for the most part. It's sold really well in some areas like Wind country."

"Wind Country?" Minato knew that was where Suna was but they needed salt?

"Because it's a desert country they need ways to improve ways of preserving perishables. Salt is a good use for that when you can't refrigerate things. It does have some access to the Sea but it's a large area with lots of isolated settlements. They also don't have as many sea side cities like Fire does. "

"It's also needed in areas like in the high mountains were things can be scarce especially places like Earth Country. They have a couple of salt mines but not many as you have to dig down deep to find salt. It doesn't sell well in other areas like say the Water county as since they are surrounded by the sea salt is easy to come by."

"So you sell it in areas that need it more for a better profit," Sakurai nodded knowing full well thanks to her father being a merchant.

"Oh okay," Minato never really thought about things like this before. "So then what's the iron for?"

"Well now that is a lot more versatile," the man told him. "Just one of the ingot bars we have can supply a merchant with nails for a month or two to sell to carpenters. Then you can make it into all kinds of things just think of most of the metal you used in the day. Then of course there is the use in weapons."

Minato thought about the simple weapons he had on him, "I thought our weapons were steel though."

"You create steel by merging iron and carbon," Sakurai supplied to him.

"It is?" Minato had never really paid attention (well Naruto hadn't) with the boring stuff in school then he had never really thought about things like this before. "So iron can be used to a lot then."

"Yes although he best iron comes from Iron country but getting that is a bit hard as they regulate it. They don't like to sell it that much and usually at higher prices because the quality of how they smelt it is a lot better than anyone else. So mostly everyone just uses the iron everyone else uses."

As they travelled on they came up to a large set of hills as the path went up.

"This is going to be the most dangerous place," The merchant told them getting a bit tense. "Here the path goes up through these hills next to those small mountains there. There is a steep drop on one side of the path on the other side there's a lot of forest. If we're going to get attacked it's most likely there."

"There isn't another path?" Sakurai asked him.

"This is actually the most direct route," he sighed starting to look to those trees with suspicion. "The other routes takes days because they go around the hills and the canyon below has a natural river running through it. The only bridge built that we can cross that river is too far in the wrong direction."

"So it's this or basically nothing," Sakurai surmised since she knew that the longer the route taken by merchants the more they had to get out of it. It was expensive to travel given the money spent on supplies, rest and other such things.

They started to travel up the road as they had a slow climb up the hillsides. For the first couple of hours everything went well, the road was well used to it wasn't all that bumpy in the wagons. Things were going well until the lead wagon suddenly buckled. The small convoy stopped as people started getting out to see what was going on.

Yamato was closer as he came over to see what had happened, when he reached the wagon as men were trying to see what happened. As he got closer he saw that the wagon wheel had taken a hard drop. There was an impression in the ground but as he kneeled down he saw that the impression was a straight line. There was no way that was natural, it looked to be designed to either capture or break the wheel off the axel.

The horses seemed to have just missed it, which was a good thing as one of their hooves could have twisted in that. He stood up slowly as he slowly scanned the area, this was obviously a trap to stop them as he managed to give a look to the other three on his team. He could see them slightly shift getting ready.

Yamato slowly walked into an area that would allow him to jump into action without giving away that he knew people were out there. The woods were too silent, growing up in Konoha you learned the sounds of a forest all the little things that happened from animals. Such as birds, there weren't any singing he noticed. Suddenly he got some of the tall grass shift slightly even though there was no wind.

That's when it happened as dozens jumped out of the woods, from out of the tall grass and from the branches of the trees. They were dressed in average clothing some wore patches of extra padding, forearm protectors and other various obvious patchwork protections. It looked like they just wore whatever they had stolen from a shipment of armor. Their weapons were the same, random words, knives and even modified farm equipment turned into weapons.

They didn't wait for the bandits to make their demands he had explained things to his team earlier on what to do. First he slammed his hands together calling on his unique wood jutsu skills. Large wooden roots came out of the ground as they started to entangle the enemy. He couldn't get them all, they were just too spread out but he was able to get most of them caught. That's when the rest of his team were to step in.

Minato made several clones as they charged on mass into the fray, Sakurai took up a defensive position to get any that got past Minato along with Yuki as Yamato moved up as well. He moved to the closest bandit as he rushed in with a kunai and gave a slashing attack to the torso. The man was able to move back faster than expected as Yamato felt the blade hit something but not flesh.

As he took a closer look he was surprised to see that the man wore a ninja mesh under the clothing. It was a thin chainmail garment that ninjas tended to wear as added armor without too much weight. It wouldn't stop anything big but a kunai could be deflected.

On closer inspection he man was too calm and confident, his posture was of someone that had seen a lot of combat and was trained. When his wood that had taken care of the bandits before exploded sending sharp wood all over the area he suddenly realized that the reports on bandits were wrong.

These weren't just bandits, they were ninjas.

Before his revelation by the trapped bandits one of them had been placing paper bombs onto the wood.

"Hurry the hell up and get us out of here," One of the trapped men yelled out.

"I'm hurrying but if I do this wrong I'll blow some of you up as well." The one placing the bombs shot back at him. "Damn it why the hell did other ninjas have to show up?"

"You know that it was going to happen sooner or later," another said more calmly. "Now that they finally sent a team you know the plan that was set down by our leader. We pretend to be bandits for as long as possible and if actual ninjas show up then we deal with them without holding back."

"There, this might sting," He said jumping back as the explosive tags shattered the wood.

"Gods damn you man I got wood in my skin from that!" One of the men complained as he had several pieces of wood a few inches sticking out of his exposed flesh. It wasn't life threatening or anything plus all their ears were ringing from the shaped explosive didn't help.

"Get your arses in gear," the most senior of the group shouted out hauling them up.

Yuki had noticed the sudden change as well, her opponents were far more skilled in combat than bandits should have been. She swayed and dodged gracefully with her small frame nearly dancing as she avoided the blades being used on her. Sometimes they were a little too close for her at times one time she felt the blade of a sword slice through a little of her hair.

She had been trained by ROOT and they never held back, if you weren't quick enough or strong enough the training could kill the young recruits. But still, even she had her limits as with the tightly wound wires on her fingers she sent her chakra through them. With a flick of her wrists the wires uncoiled and shot out with her command.

The wires wrapped around wrists, weapons and joints as she flexed her fingers making them tight. Some of them cried out in pain from the wire tightening, a couple of weapons were pulled out of their grasp and a few were tripped losing their footing. She recalled them getting back into a fighting stance looking for an opening with her team to counter the assault.

Minato used his clones to attack on mass as he watched what was going on. Naruto had trained him to use the clones to test attacks and see how things go. He found the information he got back from there a little helpful. Then suddenly most of his clones were taken out by a fireball jutsu of some kind.

"Oh crap," He muttered making a lot more clones sending them out to hopefully overwhelm them all.

He noticed that all the civilians were taking cover under the wagons which was good, that got them out of the line of fire at least.

Yamato found himself separated from his team, things were not going well as he tried to access the situation while keeping those attacking him on the defense. These were obviously fully trained ninja but they were all various skills. He also suspected from various villages, he saw a couple of styles that usually only someone from Sand or from Water knew as he has seen someone use a water clone before he has used a wood jutsu to send wooden spikes out of the ground taking them out.

Things were not looking good, the civilians were thankfully hiding out and the 'bandits' weren't focused on them. As the only ninjas in the caravan his team was the most threat, still just how many rogue ninja were banded together like this? Most stayed in small teams because it was easier to move around and hide from hunter ninja but a group this big was nearly unheard of.

'_Just what is going on here?'_ he thought to himself fighting on.

Sakurai hadn't expected this kind of trouble but she quickly got herself steady. A few of them were heading her way, she felt the nervous energy of fear starting to rise up but she pushed it down. A little bit of fear kept you alert but if you let it run wild it could get you into a lot of trouble.

She took a breath and steadied herself thinking quickly, her hands flew into several seals as she had trained in the genjutsu she was about to use but had never used it in combat before. She held her hands into the final seal waiting for the group to get close.

This required close proximity for it to work, when they were close enough she released her hands and the small charge of chakra that had been building up into her hands. There were only a few ways to get a genjutsu to work and they all required the chakra into the opponent into send the illusions into their nervous system and into the brain.

For a split second she was worried that it didn't work until they suddenly looked around shouting out that they were suddenly surrounded. Sakurai sighed, this was the Illusionary Army technique, much like the clone jutsu they were all illusions with no real substance but like shadow clones because they were empowered by the minds of those under the spell they would move and act. This made the technique like a merger of the two techniques.

No one outside of the genjutsu could see them but it would keep them busy for a time.

As the fighting was going on Yuki was holding off as best she could, although she was trained by ROOT she was still young she hadn't finished the kind of brutal training that the full members had survived through. She had seen her share though so she wasn't feeling overwhelmed but physically she was starting to realize that they were outnumbered and they were slowly being pushed back.

With their backs to the side of a cliff they were in a very bad tactical position. Her training told her that she was nothing but a tool, the mission came first no matter what. If her life was in danger she would die if need be to complete her mission. Their mission was to protect this convoy so she didn't even think of running.

She lunched her wires out grabbing another member of the group ready to use them to crush his joints when someone came out of nowhere. Yuki was about to attack with her other set of wires on her free hand when she noticed that he wasn't going for her, he was going for her wires. Before she could pull them back the man's hands became alive with electrical energy as he preformed some kind of lightning jutsu. The electricity ran through her wires hitting both the man she had but also her.

She was able to give out only a small shock of surprise and pain before the electrical power going through her body knocked her out.

Sakurai was trying to hold her own but it wasn't easy when she was outnumbered by people who were much more experienced than her. She was currently facing some mountain of a man that was using a large club as a weapon. It wasn't just any club but this was definitely one built for war, it was an eight sided wooden club with metal studs in it.

She knew that in a straight up fight the large man would overpower her so she had one chance. She rushed at him making hand seals as she ran, the man swung and she knew that if she was wrong on the timing that thing was going to cave her skull in. She saw the swing and quickly turned her run into a slide, she slid under the swing and under his legs. She touched his leg sending the genjutsu into his body, this one was also a perception style genjutsu.

The man blinked as he looked around, suddenly he seemed to be surrounded by enemies, he screamed bloody murder at these enemies as he started his attacks.

Sakurai wasn't sure what he was seeing exactly but the genjutsu was designed to make a person see friends as enemies and vise versa. Sakurai took a breath that was the first time she had to use that in combat and she hoped that it would last. Her breather didn't last as soon she found herself being surrounded by four men.

Minato saw that they were ganging up on several of them now, trying to separate and isolate everyone. He sent as many clones as he could to help everyone but noticed that Sakurai was about to get overwhelmed. He had to rush over quickly because he was the closest he jumped onto the top of a wagon and jumped off making several clones.

They attacked on mass trying to get Sakurai some breathing room. The real Minato landed next to her, "Are you okay?"

"Fine, thanks," Sakurai was glad for the breather as she planned out her next attack. Things had gotten very bad a little too quickly.

"What's up with that large guy?" Minato asked about the large man with the huge club like weapon who looked to be smashing it all over the place.

"Just a little genjutsu," Sakurai told him.

"Cool," Minato grinned as he leapt to attack the next man.

Sakurai was about to chose her own attacker to go after when she felt the cold steel pointed at her neck.

"I don't know what you did to him but you're going to break it," the man behind her told her calmly.

She didn't even hear the man behind her come up, he grabbed her by her hair pulling it back making it easier to feel the point of the blade.

"Undo the genjutsu," He growled at her.

Before she got a chance to do anything the man with the club roared out with the club overhead.

"Earth Smash!" he screamed out as a glow came into the giant metal war club smashing it into the ground.

"Don't you idiot!" The man with the blade yelled out but it was too late. The earth jutsu enhanced through the club smashed into the ground the ground shattered all around the man as the earth was split. But Sakurai and the man were on the edge of the cliff, the shattering of the earth weakened the cliff face started to break away.

For a moment Sakurai felt time slow, she felt the ground shake and give way, she felt the blade leave her throat as she turned her head. She saw Minato yelling at her but she couldn't make out the sound as she felt herself falling back. Her feet lost its footing as slowly she fell back as her mind raced, she knew that she was falling over the edge but didn't know what to do.

Everything seemed to move slowly as she felt her body falling as she found herself wishing she had been more careful. She didn't want to think what this was going to do to her family for her parents and Sakura, her sister, to lose her on her first mission. Then she felt someone grab her wrist as she saw Minato there.

He had jumped to grab her but she didn't see what he was going to do then without warning he twisted and threw her. She soon found time going back to normal as she hit the ground as her mind took a split second to get back into a normal thinking mode without the adrenaline super charging her senses.

"Minato!" She cried out scrambling to the edge looking down seeing him falling with the other ninja. They were high up and if he hit the ground he wouldn't survive. She wanted to go down after him but felt someone pull on the back of her shirt and throw her onto her back. She tried to scramble up but found a spear pointed at her chest.

"Don't even think about it," the spear holder told her.

She felt the tears wanting to fall as she thought of Minato falling to his death, while saving her life.

'_Stupid idiot...why?'_ she knew the answer but it didn't mean it didn't hurt any less. She felt numb at that moment as her mind just kept going to the fact that she wouldn't see him again. She didn't care about her own safety in that moment or anything else. Minato had been the one thing in her life that had been like a rock when they found out the truth about what they were. She hadn't realized just how much she had built her life around him.

"Alright you!" One of the men called at Yamato. "Surrender or we kill what's left of your team and some of the civilians!"

Yamato paused seeing that Yuki was down, Sakurai was capture and he didn't see Minato anywhere. Which was worrying as all of Minato's clones has just suddenly disappeared at one time. That was a bad sign as he looked around, they were surrounded and several of the civilians were being pulled out from under their wagons. He knew things were bad when the so called bandits had turned out to be ninjas instead but things had gotten fairly bad fairly quickly.

He raised his hands as if they were going to be killed they would have done so to Sakurai and Yuki so there was hope. Still this many rogue ninja was nearly unheard of, something else was going on and they needed to know what was truly going on. There was more to this than a bunch of ninja playing bandit.

He thought for a moment that they might just kill them all but if that was their goal they wouldn't bother asking for a surrender. He could be wrong of course but his instincts told him he was on the right track. So he relaxed and raised his hands. One of the men came over to tie his hands up behind his back as the other 'bandits' did the same for everyone else. He and his team were searched as anything of interests were taken off their person.

"Now what?" One of them asked someone who pulled down a hood and cloth over their mouth to show a woman.

"The plan was that if a village sent ninja we can no longer attack the caravans like we used to. It's time for the next phase," she told them.

"Got it," He nodded as everyone looked to her.

Yamato studied the woman with short green hair and dark hawk like eyes. He didn't remember her from any bingo books but then after the war a lot of the information in the books had to be updated given all those that died and was suspected as dead. She was however someone important as they all looked to her for direction. But this wasn't their leader, she was obviously a commander in the structure but she didn't carry herself like a leader.

He watched as all the merchants were loaded into the wagons as he and his team were placed in one together. Yuki was still out and Sakurai had nearly a lost look on her face that Yamato had seen before.

"Sakurai, what happened to Minato?" He asked her quietly.

For a moment she didn't say anything as her hand gripped the small bracelet that Minato made with the location seal on them. Apparently the ninjas didn't think much of it and let her keep it most likely thinking it just a piece of jewelry.

"He saved me...he..." She tried to compose herself but she felt her eyes stinging.

"It's okay just take your time," Yamato felt a cold spot in the bottom of his stomach.

"He fell off the cliff," She told him looking up at him with lost eyes.

Yamato knew it was a straight drop down, there was a small river there but impacting would kill someone. You couldn't even use chakra to stop yourself going through the water by walking on it because that would be like falling onto solid ground. At best you'd just break both your legs but the odds of that were slim to none. He hung his head as they started moving, his first mission and he already lost someone.

He was wondering how he would explain this to Naruto, Minato was under his care and he had let Naruto down.

"Where are they taking us?" Sakurai said decided to check on Yuki as best she could to at least do something, anything at that moment.

"I suspect we're going to find out soon enough," Yamato told her there were too many questions although if he had to guess the answers they were about to find he might not like.

**Next up Chapter 25: Cult of Personality**

**Sorry this took so long the fight scene took me longer to get down than I expected as I wasn't too happy with it in some places.**


	25. Cult of Personality

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 25: Cult of Personality**

Yamato's team weren't sure of how long they traveled but the bumps in the road were frequent and the road seemed uneven so it wasn't a well used road they were on. They seemed to be on a steady climb up as well. Yamato looked over his team; Yuki was up now but was still recovering from the shock. Sakurai was quiet never saying a word, her tears had stopped and she had a neutral expression on her face. It was hard to tell what the girl was going through but she looked to be holding herself together.

Sounds soon came to his attention lots of people were ahead of them. He couldn't make it out but it sounded like someone shouting a challenge and a response. They stopped for what sounded like gates opening. That wasn't good gates meant fortifications which could make escape even more troubling.

The carts were moved again and finally stopped, guards came and opened the tarp as they were ordered out and the three of them were taken out and finally for the first time he could see where they were. They were indeed higher up in the hills surrounded by forest but it was the place they were in that surprised him.

They were in a courtyard to and old fortification, the place looked weathered and the mason worked very old, there were patches of new construction to enhanced or reinforce old sections. There were new looking lookout towers as there were many men and women around the place. Only these weren't wearing bandit style clothing but openly wearing ninja gear and weapons. Although he didn't see any symbols to any village anywhere.

"Yamato-sensei?" Sakurai spoke up for the first time in a gentle voice looking around as she silently asked another question in what she said to him, asking where they were.

"It's an old outpost from one of the previous wars," Yamato told her judging from how old it was it could have been from the second or third war. This happened sometimes, forts, outposts, supply bases and the like were all made during the war. When the wars ended they were usually abandoned, if they were lucky to be in good strategic position after the wars they were maintained.

This however was in the middle of nowhere and had long been abandoned and forgotten about that is until this group had taken it. It was actually a nice plan, most people wouldn't think of looking through records for old forts that bandits could use not this high up in the hills. Plus from the looks of it, this place was built not to be seen, hidden from view from possible enemy scouts. If he had to guess this might have been a waypoint for small teams or scouts to rest up safely before moving out, maybe an old field hospital to treat wounded that couldn't be taken all the way to a major base.

Whatever this place had been this meant that this group was well defended. He noticed the civilians being led away as a group came and forced them to the main inner gate, they apparently were going to be led somewhere else.

They remained quiet as Yamato studied the area, he made mental map of the place as much as he could as they were led into the core of the fort. He could see many different ninjas here, some were wearing patches of various ninja villages and it was hard to tell that origin they had. Whatever their reasons they all seemed very sharp and alert, this wasn't some ragtag group they all were experienced.

Finally they made it into what looked to have been a command room, it was large and reinforced supports. There was a large table map off to the side as there were several people talking to a central figure.

Sitting there on what could only be described as a throne of solid rock was a large built man, much like an Akimichi from their village, large but there was power under his flesh. He wore worn down red samurai style armor with slicked back hair and a large dark beard. This apparently was the great Kahn they were told about. Although what really drew you in were the eyes, it wasn't the color, the shape or anything simple like that.

It was the intensity of them, a mad power like a raging storm.

"So what do we have here Mayumi," the man asked the female leader that had been in charge of them.

"Hanzo-sama, it happened just as you predicted," She told him. "We were attacking the last merchant group when these ninjas were hiding among them."

The man now known as 'Hanzo' laughed, "So there were wolves hidden among the sheep."

"Yes sir," Mayumi nodded. "We lost a couple of followers and one of them went over the cliff."

"So which of the villages are you from," He looked at them with a grin on his face. There was no answer from his captives and so he went to think about who it could have been. "Well the merchants were in fire country so if I had to guess I would say that Konoha has finally taken steps to protect their little sellers and buyers."

"I would think so," Mayumi looked at Yamato, "This one used wood jutsu there is only one person alive that can use that."

"Ah so we have someone special among us." Hanzo leaned back. "I knew that one day someone would come but I didn't expect this, well we have here a celebrity I bet. Well I think we have a bargaining chip for the next part of the plan."

Yamato wasn't sure what this 'plan' was but it was important to get as much information as possible. "My name is Yamato and I am a jonin of Konoha. You should know that your plan for attacking the merchants can't last forever."

"Attack the merchants if only part of the plan," the man stood up. "What you see here is the beginning of a revolution my friend. We were waiting for the sign to start the next part and here you are."

"Revolution?" Yamato wasn't sure what kind of revolution you could have.

"A revolution against this world of lies and hypocrites," Hanzo told him. "We saw our world for what it was, a world of blood and death. We saw the dead rise up against us, we were taken to the promised land where all our dreams came true. We were at peace and happy, some of us for the first time in our lives."

He looked around to his followers and Yamato could see the spell under them all as he started to see what was going on here.

"We were then cruelly ripped away from our dreams and dumped back into this world of pain and blood, we then saw the truth of this world. We may have been dreaming but when we were taken out of that dream we woke up to see the world for what it was."

"Do what the villages say, kill who they tell us, and die for them when it suits their purposes." He made a cutting gesture with his arm. "How many of us have seen our friends and loved ones killed for no reasons that made sense? How much pain and loss will we have to suffer through before it ends?"

"I know the answer! It will never end until we end it." There was a slow passion building up as he talked like he believed every word and he most likely did believe.

Yamato had never been part of events when the goddess Kaguya he had been freed from his prison then put into a genjutsu of his own but he had heard the events of how everyone had been captured into a genjutsu world of their own where all their dreams came true. He had heard of some of the people in those had rough times when they got out.

There were reports on the various post traumatic stress that happened to those in the last war, some had trouble adjusting after seeing people they knew die and there were reports of some were affected by whatever they had seen in their personal dream world.

This group lead by this man were all those who had most likely broken under all that, when the war ended and how much things had changed he could only imagine how all that had broken some people. People that were lost and looking for something, anything to believe in and this man had used to that build his army.

"So you and your follows are planning a revolution." Yamato looked around those in the room.

"I have no followers only brother and sisters, we are a family with the bonds that bind us." He smiled gesturing to them all. "They look to me for leadership and I give it to them, I give them direction when they were lost in the darkness when no one else understood them or helped them I was there to give them a helping hand into the light."

"We are going to show the world the lies it uses to control and manipulate everyone into the false promises spouted at them. I too was once like everyone here," he told the group spreading his arms and looking to the ceiling. "I was such a good and loyal ninja of my village. When my parents died on missions I carried on, when my love died because she was ordered into a mission of no return to plant false information my heart broke and threw myself into the lies of duty and honor but they did not help my pain."

"In the war I saw so many of my enemies die around me with my friends, the blood bathed battlefields and even in that hell I still believed the lies. Then the dream came, we were all so happy there, I was happy there. Everyone was alive and well, there was peace and all the pain was gone. Then we were all woken up and we saw this world for what it was."

"We saw the cruelty and horror, we finally saw the lies for what they were and now we here have gathered to tear down those lies, tear down this corrupt system of never ending pain, blood and death. We will free this world or die trying!"

Yamato had seen enough this man was so far gone that there was no way back for him, looking around as all the others looked to him like some sort of prophet . They were so lost that this madness made sense to them all.

Hanzo sat back down on his throne, "Now that I have you three I can bargain for a little more resources. Not to mention the release of a few people that I know will love to join our family given the chance. The civilians will also be good as I bet people would pay for their release."

"Now why don't you show them some of our hospitality Mayumi," He looked to the woman.

She nodded her head as the guards took Yamato and his team away. They were led down under the fort, it looked to have been more recently made, most likely from earth jutsu users from how the dirt walls were smoothed over and made solid. Torches lit the way as they apparently were now in an actual dungeon area. They passed by large openings covered in bars with the civilian merchants sitting in the gloom.

He was thankful that they were all led into the same cell, there were a few rough beds, as they were led inside.

Mayumi took something from the wall outside of the cell as she placed what looked like metal collars on them. Yamato noticed that the metal had seals on them as they were placed around their necks.

"Don't bother fighting and don't try to remove these," Mayumi coldly told them. "These have seals on them that prevent people from forming their chakra so don't bother to try and use any jutsu."

She finished clamping on the collars and she left closing and locking up the cell. They heard them leave down the hallway. Yamato checked and he found that he couldn't get his chakra to form in any way, it was there but it was like he couldn't reach out to it.

"Can either of you use your chakra?" He said in a hushed tone.

Yuki shook her head as Sakurai closed her eyes and tried really hard, she was wondering if she should try for Kurama's chakra as she had two different chakra sources inside of her but both were just too hard to get a hold of. It was like trying to grip water it just slipped through.

"Sorry I can't either." Sakurai decided to sit down on one of the beds, she pulled up her knees to her chest. "What's going to happen now?"

Yamato sighed looking around, they were locked up, their gear was taken, they were surrounded by enemies and they were down one team member. All in all this was pretty much as bad as things could get. "we'll most likely be ransomed, since they have no idea where we are they can't send a rescue party and the drop will be somewhere away from here."

"We're not even sure where 'here' is either," Yamato knew a rough idea of where they could be but this area was thick with forests. This old fort was hidden here because it was hard to for people to find since this was a forgotten leftover of one of the wars. They couldn't even be sure that this was an old Konoha fort or if the records were even around if there were records of this place.

Sakurai thought about what would happen when they returned home, she would have to tell Naruto what happened to Minato, he deserved to hear it from her. She couldn't believe how horrible things went was, sure things had gotten out of control but what was the point of all that training and this happens?

She was starting to doubt her life as a ninja when she felt something brush her skin. She rubbed it but when she felt it again she looked at her arm wondering what was going on. There wasn't anything on her arm but then she felt it again. She paused and looked at the small bracelet with the seals on it, the location bracelet that Minato made. Sakurai kept it on as her heart was starting to beat faster as she wasn't sure if what she was feeling was in her mind or not.

She concentrated on it and waited, just when she was thinking it might have been nothing she felt it. The bracelet vibrated just a little, she gasped as she quickly looked up to see their surprised reactions. Sakurai wasn't sure if anyone could hear them so she pointed to her bracelet. Yamato and Yuki shared a look before taking a closer look at it. Yamato placed a finger on the bracelet and waited, it vibrated again.

He looked up sharply into Sakurai's green eyes filled with hope, there was only one way for that to work. He nodded his head silently telling her that yes, he was still alive. He wasn't sure how but he was glad that Minato has somehow survived. If he could get to word to Konoha what happened there might be a way for them to track them before their scent or trail got too cold.

Still he hoped that Minato was going to do the smart thing and go straight to Konoha, then he remembered that Minato was a copy of Naruto in mind as well as body. The young boy could be just as unpredictable and that worried him.

**-Cliffside A few Hours ago-**

When Minato was falling he knew he didn't have much time, he really didn't plan things out he just liked to go on instinct and see what worked. Which is what he did when he was falling, he made the hand seal for it and created a clone below him. He used him as a jumping pad knowing the clone would dispel long before the clone hit the ground but it would give Minato the chance to jump to the cliff side. If he could just reach it then it would give him a chance at using his chakra to stick himself to the rock, it wasn't slippery although he hadn't tried his chakra like this before.

"Watch out boss!"

"Huh?" Minato turned in time from his shadow clone's warning as the falling ninja apparently wasn't one to just let him go and threw a kunai, apparently he wanted to make sure Minato didn't survive. Minato twisted feeling the kunai just scrap his face but it was still effective. His back hit the rocks, he cried out as she started to fall again. The last thing he saw was a branch growing out of the cliff side before crashing into it.

Minato wasn't sure how long he had been out, he woke up from the blackness feeling the pain in his back plus he felt sick with a huge pressure in his head. He blinked a few times feeling an almost weightlessness in the top half of his body.

"Wha?" He blinked and he was looking right down into the river below him. He cried out as he automatically started moving thinking he was falling but he realized he wasn't. He could feel the support on some of his body. Taking stock of things he found that he was half hanging upside down off the branch.

Cautiously he tried to move himself to be on top of the branch.

"Is this breaks I'm so screwed." He muttered to himself as he eventually managed to get back to the rock face. His face stung on the side as he reached up to feel the cut there, it was still healing apparently. Although with Kurama's chakra he and Sakurai would heal faster it wasn't as good as it was with Naruto. The bleeding had stopped from the feel of it but his back still hurt, and his head too. Minato figured he must have hit his head on the branch looking at a broken section.

It took a few minutes of climbing but he was able to get back to the top of the cliff but when he got there, there was no one to be seen. He felt a small panic in him as he hadn't known just how long he had been out. Looking at the sky with the sun falling he knew now that he had to have been out for a few hours, this wasn't good.

Minato had no idea if his team were okay or not, then he remembered. He looked to the bracelet he made for just this kind of event. He concentrated on it and sent his chakra into it, he felt it move a bit but it was really feint. He had no idea of the range of these as they never got to test it out but he could still find them.

But now he had problem, he had to go after them because he wasn't sure how else they would find them, if they were still on the move and got out of range there would be no way. He also knew that he had to go for help. He quickly thought about it, he thought about sending a clone but the instance it ran out of chakra or if something happened like it fell or had an accident it would just dispel.

"Ahh this sucks!" he grabbed his hair in frustration. He needed to get a message to Konoha on what happened but he couldn't just leave his team. He walked around in a circle quickly trying to think of something. He needed to get a message back, if only he could just send a message but it wasn't like he knew where any messenger ninjas or any other teams he could pass it on to.

He wished he could give a message to Naruto at least then he could get things rolling, suddenly it hit him. He just might be able to get a message to Naruto, Minato quickly bit his thumb and went into the hand seals for the summoning jutsu. He slammed his hand into the ground as the black seal markings sprang up. There was a puff of smoke as Minato really was worried on who he summoned, he was still new at this and he not always got the best toads.

As the smoke cleared there was a little green toad with orange stripes wearing a small orange vest.

"Alright Gamatora!" Minato had been working on his summons and so far he could only call up small toads none of the bigger guys yet but he was still working on it. Still this guy Gamatora was actually a nice guy.

"Yo boss what's happening?" the little toad waved up at him.

"Look I got a lot of trouble and I need your help," Minato knelt down to him.

"Sure what can I do?"

"If I give you a message can you make sure that Naruto gets it?" Minato wasn't sure if this could work as he never tried anything like this before, plus he wasn't sure what signing the summons contract fully meant.

Gamatora thought about it, "Yeah should be easy enough, there are only two of ya that got the contract signed, that links all of ya to the toads. So if we wanted to we could show up to the summoner without being summoned."

"Cool hold on," Minato looked through his equipment he pulled a piece of paper from a scroll and ripped out a piece. Thankfully since he started working on seals he always had paper and ink on him. He had that guy Sai show him ways to keep it safe as that guy carried a lot of paper and ink on him at all times. He wrote as much as he could hoping that he got everything. He folded the paper up and handed it to the toad. "Get this to him as fast as you can okay?"

"You got it!" The toad grabbed it with both of his hands as he disappeared.

"Great now with that out of the way," Minato looked around and knew that a search team would come this way as it was the route they were supposed to have taken. Minato pulled out a kunai and dug a deep arrow into the ground towards where he thought the pull of the bracelet was giving him. He would give little marks along the way to that they could follow him.

"Don't worry I'm coming," He quietly told his team as he ran into the forest.

**-Konoha-**

It was a quiet afternoon in the village which was why a certain couple had taken full advantage of it. In his apartment Naruto and Sakura were sitting together on his couch already having started their own make out session. They had gone out on a date together, a nice walk in the park followed by a snack as they just hung out and talked and joked. It was nice to just have a moment for themselves, it was relaxing and it felt natural.

They had come back to his place and they were just sitting on the couch, neither really knew how it happened but here they were deeply kissing the other.

Naruto loved the soft sensation of her lips, the smell of her hair against his face the little cute moaning sounds she made. One of his hands was at her waist as he thought about seeing if she might mind if he tried something. He slowly trailed his hand down her side finding her hip and lightly started to caress her leg. Well he hadn't been decked yet so that was good, still he wasn't going to push things too far.

For Sakura when he placed his hand there she nearly jumped, she could feel her face blush as he was getting a bit bold, however nice it felt if his hand moved anywhere more she might have to punch him in the guts to teach him his limits. Thankfully he seemed to know enough to stop there but his hand started to caress her bare thigh. Then Naruto went for her neck as she pulled her head back to give him easier access as she moaned.

If he was going to do this then why not take a little fun for herself? She ran one of her hands over his chest, thankfully he only had that black t-shirt on as she felt his chest muscles. She bit her lip feeling his mouth on her neck suck a little harder. Her first balled with his shirt as she actually contemplated ripping it off. Her body was just so hot at the moment she wasn't sure if she was thinking straight.

She hoped Naruto didn't leave a mark those were hard to hide and pass off, the last time he gave her a major hickey she had to swear a scarf around her neck. She was so lost in the moment that she only was dimly aware of a slight sound in the room. She opened her eyes to look around wondering what that had been when she locked eyes on Naruto's coffee table in front of them with a little green toad in a vest looking up at them.

"Oh baby!" He grinned giving them a thumbs up.

"Kyaa!" Sakura shouted pulling away from Naruto as the boy jumped up thinking he might have gone too far or something but then noticed the little toad in the room.

"What the hell Naruto?" Sakura glared at her boyfriend blushing all over now as she was so embarrassed that one of his toads had seen her in such an intimate position.

"It's not me!" He threw his hands up in front of him to ward off any assault on her. "I didn't call on any toads!"

He looked at the little green toad, he wasn't familiar with this one but he thought he saw Minato summon this guy a couple of times. "What gives and who are you?"

"I'm Gamatora," the little toad spoke up and looked like he was puffing out his chest. "Remember the name because one day I'll be a major player."

"Ah...okay then," Naruto sweat dropped at the little guy's enthusiasm.

"Anyways the boss sent me to give this to you," He handed Naruto the letter as the young man took it. "Minato told me to give it to you fast although if you want a few more minutes..."

"We're good, we're good," Naruto told him blushing a bit.

"Cool well I'm off," He grinned at the two of them. "There are others that will want to hear about this."

Both ninjas eyes widened at that as Sakura made to grab the toad and force it not to say anything, unfortunately for her all she did was grab smoke as the little toad vanished.

"Damn it, Naruto call him back!" She turned to see Naruto reading the letter and the serious look on his face. Naruto normally wasn't so serious and whatever he was reading had to be important.

"Naruto?" she asked him again not liking how silent he was getting. He suddenly got up and was heading for his front door, leaving the message on the couch. "Naruto what the hell is going on?"

Sakura took the torn paper and looked it over, it was a quick note in kind of messy handwriting that reminded her of Naruto's. It wasn't Naruto's thought, this was from Minato as she read the message and all other thoughts were pushed aside instantly from the contents of the letter. What she and Naruto had been doing, being caught of that that little gossip of a green toad was most likely already spreading the news of what he saw all around the toads in their mountain, this pushed all that aside.

_Hey we need help_

_We got jumped by the bandits but they were ninjas NOT bandits, everyone else got caught I think. I'm going after them, will leave a trail follow when you can._

It was signed Minato and that was it.

"Oh god," Sakura whispered out she knew she had a bad feeling about this, she just thought that it was just her nerves about Sakurai going on her first mission away from the village. She knew she should have listened to her inner voice about this.

"Come on we got to see Granny right away!" Naruto pulled on his jacket as Sakura jumped up with him.

"It's still too early for her to get out off her office so we should be able to find her there!" Sakura told him stuffing the note in a pocket as they rushed out the door. They raced across the rooftops as they headed towards the Hokage tower. Both of them hoped that they would be okay by the time they got to them. What she couldn't believe was that Minato was going after them alone, then again he did take after Naruto and thinking like that, yeah, both boy would do the exact same thing.

She cast a look to Naruto and saw the serious look in his eyes and face, but she could tell that under all of that, he was worried just like she was.

**Next up Chapter 26: The Rescue**

**I was going to have this out sooner, then a blackout hit me just as I was getting into the grove. I'm just thankful I didn't lose anything since it was on my laptop. Also I kind of took inspiration for the leader of this guy from Bray Wyatt from WWE.**


	26. The Rescue

**I Think I'm A Clone Now**

**Chapter 26: The Rescue**

**-Hokage's Office-**

Normally Tsunade didn't have to worry too much these days, things had been relatively peaceful since the war ended. Sure there were the occasional problems that shot up but they were usually something that could be dealt with. Now however a simple mission had turned into a disaster. Not long ago Naruto and Sakura had busted into her office and told her everything. Sakura showed her the small note they had received.

Tsunade had immediately called up everyone she could for this mission, if there was a group of ninja that had been posing as bandits then things were bad. There was no idea just how large the force was, what kind of ninja they had or even where exactly they were located since their team and the civilians must have been taken, as Minato made no mention of any dead, so these people also had hostages too.

This would not stand, this group was operating in their country and they were going to shut this group down and get their people and the civilian merchants back.

Looking around she had Naruto and Sakura both eager to go, Kakashi was here along with Shizune, Gai and his team, as well as Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Sai, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji and finally Karin and Anko.

"Alright this is everyone that we could gather on short notice for this mission," Tsunade said with full authority. "You all know what is at stake and what happened. This is primarily a search and rescue mission but if you can, deal with this unnamed group of ninja. Kakashi you'll lead this team and I'll leave the command structure to you."

Kakashi nodded his head. "We'll start by getting to the area as fast as possible and see if we can find a trail."

"Well if there is anything left you can bet me and Akamaru can sniff them out." Kiba told them.

"If that fails you got me," Karin spoke up adjusting her glasses. "Just get me in the general area and I'll be able to find them."

"Like hell we'll fail," Kiba told her insulted that he and his dog partner couldn't track someone.

"It's been a long time you really expect a scent to linger that long?" Karin asked him placing her hands on her hips. Kiba wanted to tell her that no matter how much time past they would be able to track it but even he knew that any scent might be gone by the time they get there.

Karin pushed her glasses up with one hand, "Besides he's family and I'm not letting anyone mess with my family."

Naruto grinned at her although she was trying not to show it he could see that she had come to see Minato as family too and it was nice to see this.

"Well then you have your orders, Kakashi you know your mission!" Tsunade commanded.

Kakashi nodded his head and then turned to everyone else. "You heard the Hokage, everyone to the gate!"

Everyone cried out in unison as they rushed out of the office, when they were all gone Tsunade sank into her chair with a sigh. This was supposed to be a time of peace and yet here she was sending out people to save the lives of a group she sent out to a mission. It was times like this that she felt her age, she had been picked to take over the village in a time when war was on the horizon after the village had been attacked. She had rebuilt the village (twice of all things) lead them through a war, something she had hoped to never see again, and right now she just felt tired.

Maybe it was time to finally step down, she had been thinking about this for months now and maybe it was time to finally get around to it.

"I'm getting too old for this," she muttered wondering if she should get a drink. Hell if she did retire she could just drink and gamble all the time. Oh who was she kidding she would get bored out of her mind without something to do. Maybe she would take over the hospital full time, she could start training a whole new generation of medical ninjas and she knew that with Sakura by her side she could easily do it.

Well she would think it over after this mission.

The team ran through the village going to the main road and out to the main gate. As they ran Sakura clenched her fists and teeth slightly. Naruto wasn't the only one with family out there, Sakurai was also in danger and although she hadn't been in Sakura's life long, the girl had become an important part of it.

'_Hang on Sakurai, we're coming to get you and everyone,'_ she thought. Sakura cast a look to Naruto seeing the expression on his face. It was rare to see him with such an expression on his face but she knew that when things were serious then so was he. He was just as determined as her to get them back and it made her feel more confident that with him next to her, even with everyone else was here it was Naruto that gave her the most comfort.

**-Elsewhere-**

Minato had been following the pull of the bracelet for a long time now, he wasn't sure sometimes if he had been going in the right direction sometimes. The pull was so weak at the start it was hard to tell but eventually it got strong enough for him to figure out the right direction. It ended up going uphill through the forest.

He wasn't sure how they managed to get all the carts through the forest, it couldn't have been easy but eventually he came across a small path it although it wasn't well traveled it was big enough and the pull was coming from this direction. He kept making markings on the trees hoping it would be enough for a rescue party to find.

It was night when he finally managed to get to what looked like some kind of old fort or something. He hadn't even seen it at first, the tree line helped to hide it with the lookout towers the only thing peeking out at first. When he got closer he was able to see the place for what it was.

"Oh man this sucks," Minato muttered looking at the place. This was not what he was expecting to find and although it did complicate things it didn't change his plan. Looking around he saw the patrols and he took a moment to think. He really needed to get in but they were too alert.

'_Man this is worse than trying to get past ANBU,'_ he had the memories of all those pranks Naruto pulled and how he got around but unlike those times, those ninjas weren't on full alert. But a thought struck him, back then Naruto didn't have shadow clones. He grinned as he made a few clones looking around he found himself face to face with three other versions of him.

"Okay guys make some noise and make a hole for me," He whispered.

"You got it boss," They told him in a hushed tone together. They ran off and Minato waited in the forest. Thankfully he didn't have to wait too long, a few minutes later he noticed a rock hitting the wall of the fortress. It got the attention of a few of them as a large branch snapping was heard from the opposite direction. The other clone looked to be running around in a random pattern not bothering to remain silent.

He knew that the clones would dispel themselves without getting caught and with luck would keep the other ninjas busy looking around. Well the plan was working so far as he found his opening, he looked around to be certain and rushed out of the trees. He hit the wall with a foot and with the chakra on it and ran up the wall. Minato rushed to the top and quickly over the wall, he eventually found himself in a courtyard but there were still people around.

He dove under one of the carriages that looked like the one of the ones stolen from the merchants. He felt the clones memories returned to him as he knew they were no longer out there. He could already hear some men and women shouting out commands that someone was outside the fort. This might complicate things as this might get getting out more trouble but when he got to his team they could figure something out then.

Looking around there were plenty of shadows to hide in given the moon wasn't fully out and the only light were some torches but there was still the problem of where everyone was held. It's not like he could ask someone and he couldn't stay here forever. Minato scanned the area and saw an opening to getting inside of the complex at least. He took the chance running straight for a doorway that was open.

He stopped when he got inside trying to listen to see if anyone had seen him but apparently no one noticed. He started to make his way through the place but without a map or knowing anything about the place it was just one big maze to him. Eventually he found himself in a corridor where there were a bunch of doors. From the looks of it he might have found some kind of barracks or something.

This wasn't the best place to find himself he heard people coming from down the hall at a junction. Looking around he didn't see much in the way of hiding places, the ceiling might work but he wasn't sure if there was enough room to hide. He thought quickly and pushed through a door thankful it wasn't locked but hoping no one was inside. He carefully closed the door hearing two men talking but he couldn't make it out yet.

Looking around he saw a room full of shelves and scrolls. There were a few candles going as he saw a work desk with open parchment. He took a quick look and was surprised to find that it was a seal on it. He was stuck in this room until the guards left although they did seem to be taking their sweet time. He gently without making a sound that could be heard looked through a few others on the desk. All of them were seals.

It looked like he had walked into the room of someone that knew a lot about seals, he only wished he knew someone like this in the village. He heard footsteps coming closer but this was just one person. He mentally cursed looking for a place to hide in case they were coming in here. There wasn't much, there wasn't a closet so he did the next best thing, he hid under the bed. The covers would allow him to hide as he tried to still himself waiting.

He mentally cursed his luck again when the door opened and someone walked in. He could only see feet but they didn't look like a man's foot although the sigh he heard told him it was a woman. She paced around and he hoped she didn't notice that someone moved her scrolls. He had forgotten to place everything back in his hurry. He took very slow and shallow breaths but his heart was hammering in his chest.

Minato heard her do something as suddenly he saw a tunic hit the floor, he very desperately tried not to make a sound as he blushed knowing she was actually undressing most likely getting ready for bed. It took every will power to keep himself as still as a rock so that he wouldn't make a sound. Next was a skirt and he really hoped she wasn't going to take anything else off. A knocking at her door nearly made him jump and hit his head on the bed.

"What is it?" Mayumi demanded reaching down to quickly get dressed. The men knew better than to enter her room but you could never tell.

"Reports from the sentries, several disturbances were found and scouts found that someone was outside the walls." Came a slightly muffled voice from outside the room.

"Gather the troops silently in the courtyard I'll be there shortly," she commanded them. She quickly got dressed as she went to leave her room. She paused looking around, something felt amiss in her room. She looked around but couldn't place what was nagging at her. She would have to deal with it later if the Leaf or another group were outside they needed to be ready.

Naruto waiting holding his breath for her to leave watching as her feet passed the doorway and the door closing behind her. He waited a full minute before getting out from under the bed that had just been way too close for him. He sent to the door and pressed his ear against it he didn't hear anyone so he slowly opened the door and looked out in the hall. It was all clear so he slipped out into the hallway.

He tried the bracelet again hoping it would give him a shot at going in the right direction, the tug he felt was a lot stronger and pointed his wrist in different directions. When he felt he had the strongest pull he tried going in that direction. Thankfully it seemed mostly everyone was busy outside not knowing someone had already sneaked in but given his luck if he didn't find his friends soon he would most likely run into someone he didn't want to run into.

Eventually he found a set of stairs that led down slightly and soon found himself underground, the walls looked to be cut out of the rock from the earth and torches lined the walls. He could see metal bars in the doorways as he realized he was in a prison section of the fort. This was perfect everyone had to be here, silently walking forward he looked in and saw in the shadows shapes of people on the ground sleeping. These were most likely the civilian merchants they were hired to protect.

They would have to make sure they got them out somehow but first he needed the rest of his team.

Slowly he walked looking through each cell trying to see anyone, he felt the pull of the bracelet pull really hard now and when he got to one specific cell it nearly tugged his arm in that direction.

"Sakura-chan?" He whispered.

"Minato?" Sakurai came forward from the back as Yamato and Yuki behind her. "It is you, I thought you were dead until my bracelet activated."

Sakurai had never been so glad to see her teammate until that moment he looked a little worse for wear but he seemed physically fine. Although she was really glad to see him alive she couldn't believe that he had tried to infiltrate this place.

"You scared the hell out of me you know," she said feeling the anger at thinking he had died protecting her. "I thought you died you jerk."

"Sorry, I just acted without thinking."

"You are so making it up to me after this for scaring me like that, you're taking me out for anmitsu when this is all over and you're paying."

"Uhhh, okay-wait! Does that mean that we're going on a-" He was cut off as his face had lit up at the thought that he might actually be getting a date out of all of this. If so that would make fall off that damn cliff worth it.

"Minato," Yamato cut in taking command of the situation. "Although I'm glad you got in here but why didn't you send word to Konoha for backup?"

"I did," He grinned at their leader. "I sent one of the toads with a message and left a trail."

"Well that was good planning but you didn't have to try and enter this place," Yamato told him. "You could have waited for the rescue team outside."

"Yeah I guess," He scratched the back of his head he hadn't really thought about that he kind of got caught up in the idea of rescuing them. "But I'm here now so I might as well get you all out of there, any idea where the keys are?"

Looking down at the lock he wasn't sure he had anything on him to pick it with, it was a large and sturdy looking one so a flimsy lock pick would just break and he didn't anything strong enough that wouldn't break.

Yamato looked down one direction and pointed, "I saw the guard that locked us in go that way and I think he placed something on the wall."

"Got it I'll be right back," Minato rushed over and started to looking on the wall. It didn't take him long to see a metal ring with keys on it on a hook. "Oh yeah this is going to be easy."

He walked over to the keys and picked them up, what he hadn't seen was the paper behind the keys until he pulled it off.

"Huh, what is...oh CRAP!" Minato could see that the paper had a seal on it, he wasn't sure what it was but the quick look he was able to make out just enough that this seal wasn't explosive but it was linked to something. It glowed and suddenly patterns were glowing all around the walls and floors of the prison. There had been seals placed all over the area by someone as Minato tried to rushed to the cell.

Whatever this was doing he knew enough to know that it wasn't going to be good. He only got a couple of feet before the seals somehow caused the rocks to shoot out making walls. Minato had to roll to dodge the wall that was springing up right under his foot. He soon found himself trapped as the rock walls slammed into the roof or sides all along the prison.

"What's going on?" Sakurai asked seeing the large walls just appear and Minato disappearing behind one.

"It's a security trap of some kind," Yamato had to admire the simple and yet genius way to secure a prison level. In case the security went off then the prison would lock down with pure rock walls. This also meant that the only way to get through those walls wouldn't be a quiet way and the way the walls slammed down already people had to know. Anyone in the level above them would have felt the shaking although he wouldn't be surprised if there was an alarm somewhere going off.

Minato meanwhile was still trapped looking around, the only things he could see was an empty cell to his left and the torch on the wall to his right the only thing that was giving him any light down here.

This wasn't good he had to get to them quickly.

"Well so much for being quiet." He muttered to himself making a shadow clone.

"This is bad," Yamato looked around but the walls were on either side of the prison cell, they were most likely to section off each cell just in case. "If we want to get out of here we'll have to do it quickly."

"Can he get through the wall?" Yuki suddenly asked the pale girl hadn't said anything until now as she had silently watched and waited. She had been taking stock of their options ever since she woke up but it wasn't until now that there was a slight chance. Although by her thinking the odds of them getting out of the prison were in the single digits and getting out of the fort even less so.

"Well not unless he uses the-" Sakurai was got off from the explosion of rock.

"Rasengan!" Minato yelled out from the new hole.

"Uses that," Sakurai stated flatly.

"Well it's not like stealth is an option anymore," Yamato told her. "Minato did you get the keys?"

"Got them!" Minato looked through the keys as they didn't seemed to be marked. "Uh...which one?"

"Try them all!" Sakurai told him quickly.

Minato tried one but it didn't work, the next one didn't work either, he was about to try the third one when the walled suddenly slid back into the stone walls and floor. They all tried to see what happened but only Minato had the only clear look to see a woman standing there with two guards.

"Hey isn't that the one that fell over the cliff?" One of the guards asked pointing to Minato. Apparently he had been also part of the raid on the civilian merchants and had seen Minato fall over the edge.

"If he is then apparently he didn't fall too far," Mayumi said as she had cancelled her seal traps.

Minato took a moment to place that voice, he hadn't seen her face but that was the voice of the woman whose room he had been hiding in. He tried not to think about how she had been undressing not knowing he had been in there.

"I'll take care of this," Mayumi walked forwards calmly as she dug into her pockets.

Minato tossed the others the keys, "Keep trying and I'll stall her."

Yamato wasn't sure what he had planned but he didn't know that they couldn't use their chakra at the moment. They still had their physical skills so it would have to be enough as he quickly tried to get the keys into the lock.

"Alright time to bring in the backup," Minato crated half a dozen clones and sent them forward.

Mayumi pulled out many different papers with seals on them as she threw them through the air. As the papers landed Minato soon found various things shooting out of them. A few had fire shoot out, others had iron spikes, kunai, shurikens and many other deadly things that had been sealed up in the papers.

They made short work of his shadow clones although Minato had to admit that was really cool. He never thought to seal things like fire or other elements into seals or to use simple paper slips like this instead of full on scrolls. This was an idea he was going to have to play around with when they all got back.

Seeing all the seals had been used up he decided to try a different tactic. He pulled out a kunai but this one he had prepared with a paper bomb wrapped on the handle. He tossed it as her as she ran towards him. Minato grinned as he prepared to use his chakra to signal the explosive.

She kept coming at him but instead of dodging the kunai she held a paper with a sealing circle in it and managed to get the kunai to hit the inside of the circle. It was immediately sealed as she didn't even pause as she came at him.

'_Crap that would have been really cool if it wasn't against me,'_ Minato thought as he put that trick down to another thing to try out later.

He pulled out a regular kunai as he got into a battle stance as it looked like this might be a close quarters fight now. Just as she was close that was when Yamato found the correct key and kicked open the metal door. Mayumi had to dodge the door leaving her open as Yamato followed up with a kick to her stomach. She grunted as she hit the wall as the two other members of the team came out as well. The two guards in the back saw this and ran forward as one of them yelled at the stairs of the escape.

Yamato tried to follow up on the attack but she quickly got out of the way getting back down towards her allies who managed to catch up. The Konoha group came together but they noticed that more were coming down the stairs behind them. Yamato thought about it but unless they could get the collars with the seals off they were at a major disadvantage. The only chance they had was to run but it was a slim one. This was their base of operations they knew the layout better and they were surrounded by enemies.

They would have to slip away, find a way to lose their pursuit and then also keep to the shadows long enough to escape, get into friendly territory and then come back with a full force to not only take this group out but also rescue the hostages. He had no idea how to get any of it done but if they stayed here then they wouldn't even get to the first part of the plan.

He remembered that Minato came from the opposite end from them so most likely there were two entrances down here.

"Everyone back the other way!" Yamato called out as he turned to run, the others took his lead and turned to run.

"Oh no you're not," Mayumi scowled as her hands went into several seals the seals that were hidden in the hallways that she herself put in place activated again. The walls rose up from the other exit all the way back to them.

Yamato and his team soon found themselves cut off again. He turned to face their foes and he knew that there was no way out of this now. They couldn't beat the odds that were slowly gaining on them with every new member coming down those stairs. It wasn't a lot but even a slow trickle can change the odds in a battle.

Minato however didn't believe in defeat and he wanted to fight on to the last. He charged ahead with a cry before anyone could do or say anything.

Mayumi had enough of this one, she threw more papers much more this time around. Minato was ready as he had a bunch of clones surrounding him but instead of lethal weapons coming out of the seals it was chains, lots and lots of chains. They shot out and turned the hallway into a spider's web of chains. Soon Minato found himself and his clones trapped.

Mayumi started a few more hand seals and when she finished the chains wrapped around each of them, they tightened just enough to dispel the shadow clones. With the real Minato now exposed the chains suddenly wrapped around him encasing him in the heavy metal from his ankles to his shoulders. With a thud he fell to the ground struggling.

Yamato made a move forward but had to dodge a kunai it whizzed by his head, if he hadn't moved that would have been deadly.

"Careful we need them all alive," Mayumi had seen it and yelled behind her at whoever had thrown that kunai, it had been a clumsy throw. She heard someone mutter an apology she would find out who and deal with them after all this was finished.

She looked quickly to the young ninja on the ground, those chains were thick enough that there was no way he could break out. His arms and hands were pinned down so no ninjutsu would be able to be used to help him out. She looked back to the other three up against the wall.

Mayumi could feel the battle had shifted totally in her favor so it was time to give them the one and only chance to surrender if not well just because they needed them alive didn't mean that they had to be in one piece.

"Surrender now, you all have the collars on so you can't use any chakra," she said in a commanding tone. "The little one here is captured now you could fight but you will lose. We have orders to keep you alive but that's it, just alive."

She let the threat hang in the air.

Yamato knew that any small chance they had was gone now, he had to think about his team. Keep them alive and keep them safe for as long as he could. Minato said he got word out so all he had to do was just give them enough time. He raised his hands slowly so that no one got the wrong idea.

"Alright, we surrender." He told her.

"What?!" Minato struggled.

"Minato this is an order!" Yamato told him sternly as the youth didn't like it but he stopped struggling.

Mayumi watched as she gave the command to get them bound, this time she would make sure their wrists would be bound. She also ordered one of the men to get another seal collar for the one in her chains.

As one of the men went to pick up Minato he finally got a good look at him and it made him pause in surprise by what he saw.

"The hell!?"

"What?" Mayumi asked.

"This kid looks exactly like Naruto Uzumaki," He told him as the others took a closer look if they could.

Everyone knew the name Naruto Uzumaki these days, you'd have to have been living under a rock not to know the hero of the war. So it was a bit shocking to see a young man with his exact features.

Mayumi looked at the boy and he could see it, the spiky golden hair, blue eyes and the whisker marks on his face were a dead giveaway. She paused as she looked at the pink haired girl and her matching marks on her face as well. She narrowed her eyes, she never really thought about it at first thinking maybe she was some kind of fan girl that put those on her face. Some kids did that these days but no, those weren't normal markings as she bent down to take a closer look at the boy's face.

They weren't tattoos or face paint, they were part of the skin.

"This is strange he looks exactly like Naruto Uzumaki at that age." The one that spoke up about this first said.

"You sure?" She asked him.

"I used to be from Konoha, he was a huge trouble maker at that age." He told her.

"Did he have any relatives?"

"No he was an orphan."

Mayumi knew that something was going on here much more than what she could see. "Bind them all, we're taking them to see Hanzo-sama."

**Next up Chapter 27: The Leaf Attack**


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